EFF and Denel battle over land

Denel, which owns land at TR informal settlement in Khayelitsha targeted by the Economic Freedom Fighters for occupation, has accused the party of playing with the emotions of the poor.

At least 13 people were charged with public violence for stoning cars and setting alight a municipal car in Mew Way and torching a church in Kalkfontein on Sunday.

Occupiers of the land lost their materials after being evicted on 7 April.

So far the EFF has targeted three pieces of land - in Khayelitsha, Kalkfontein and Wallacedene.

Head of corporate communication and public affairs for Denel, Vuyelwa Qinga, said it concerned them that people were not warned about breaking the law.

“A group of people led by the EFF on Monday 6 April commenced with the unlawful occupation of Denel property, seemingly in support of the party’s campaign to invade land illegally,” she said. She told GroundUp that people’s hopes will inevitably be dashed when the law takes its course.

“We live in a constitutional democracy with laws, rights and responsibilities that govern all aspects of our lives,” she said.

But Khayelitsha EFF member Khuliswa Nondala, who led the land occupation next to the railway line in Nolungile, said no one had been used. She told GroundUp that they had been given a mandate by EFF national office to occupy privately owned land.

“It is our agenda in the province to occupy the land because it is owned by people who only feed themselves and do not care about the community. No one is forced; we all need houses,” she said, but refused to give details on how the mandate was communicated to them and what the plan of land occupation would be.

“As EFF we will make sure that people build their shacks wherever they want to … Our lawyers are always on standby to fight for them to get their material back,” said Nondala.

Nomzamo Nkolisa from TR Informal Settlement told GroundUp that she lost all her material when evicted following the Western Cape High Court interdict obtained by Denel.

She said she was about to finish building her shack when the City evicted her. She claims she lost at least R3,500 in materials.

Nkolisa said they were called by EFF members in the province who told them they must build shacks on Denel land.

“No one told us that we might be evicted. To us it came [was understood] as if EFF lawyers [had] negotiated for the land,” she said.

Another resident, Tulani Koti, claims an EFF member told him to build a shack on the Denel land. He said he immediately went to a person who sells shacks to negotiate with him to pay for the materials at the end of month. He was excited.

“I was so happy, because I was going to find a place of my own,” he said.

But he has now lost all the material during the eviction and he still has to pay R5,000 for the shack material.

“For the past nine years, I have been living with a family of eight people in a four-room shack. I thought this was my chance to finally have a house of my own,” he said.

Land occupiers see their materials and possessions carted away after the eviction from the Denel owned land. Picture by Masixole Feni.

EFF Western Cape Secretary Melikhaya Xhego agreed with Nondala saying the mandate to occupy private owned land is from the EFF national office. He said land expropriation is their policy, but they are not using people to fulfill that.

“We are not playing people. They are the ones who complained about lack of land, so we advised community members to find open space so they can build shacks,” he said.

He added that no one is forced; people are taking action because they need houses.

Denel and EFF have taken the matter to the Cape High Court after Denel was given a court interdict to remove all building material, structures, furniture, effects and possessions on the properties to a place of safe keeping. Possessions are kept for one week after which they are deemed to be abandoned. The case is postponed until 21 April.