Minister to take Knoflokskraal occupation to court
Government says it has evidence of fraudulent land sales and extortion
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The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is going to court to “restore the rule of law” at the self-proclaimed Khoisan settlement of Knoflokskraal in Grabouw. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks
- Public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson says government will be submitting court papers next week to “restore the rule of law at Knoflokskraal”.
- Knoflokskraal was initially occupied in 2020 and has since grown into a settlement of thousands of people. The initial occupiers saw it as a reclamation of their indigenous rights.
- The minister says the department has evidence of fraudulent land sales, extortion and a “parallel policing structure” on the state land.
The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) will approach the Western Cape High Court to stop any further expansion of the self-proclaimed Khoisan settlement of Knoflokskraal in Grabouw.
During a media briefing on Monday, public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson said government will be submitting court papers on 19 October with the aim to “restore the rule of law at Knoflokskraal, where it has ceased to exist”.
Macpherson said they had collected evidence of fraudulent land sales, extortion and a “parallel policing structure” on the state-owned land.
Knoflokskraal was initially occupied in 2020 and has since grown to be a settlement of thousands of people. GroundUp previously reported on the initial occupiers who saw their settlement at Knoflokskraal as a reclamation of their indigenous rights. Many small-scale farmers and small businesses now operate at Knoflokskraal, GroundUp reported.
The government’s affidavit contains over 1,000 pages, said Macpherson. He added that the application would set out the history of the occupation, attempts to engage with residents, and evidence received from whistleblowers within Knoflokskraal.
Public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson at the briefing on Monday. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
The application will have two parts. Part A asks the court to let the department serve the papers on residents by other means, so that affected people can come forward and place their version of events to the court under oath. Part B is for a containment order to stop further occupation. The order will expand on an existing order over three of the six parcels of land which make up Knoflokskraal.
“Government needs to establish who is living at Knoflokskraal, how households are made up, when people arrived, their socio-economic circumstances, what vulnerabilities exist, and what cultural or heritage claims are being advanced, if any,” said Macpherson.
He said the occupation grew from 382 structures in May 2021 to about 4,880 by August 2022.
We reported in April 2026 that the settlement has grown to 15,000 to 20,000 people.
He said whistleblowers have given government evidence that plots at Knoflokskraal were being sold for R1,500 each. “If someone is fraudulently selling state land that they do not own and have no authority to allocate, or collecting unlawful levies in connection with that land, they are not helping vulnerable people obtain land. They are exploiting them.”
Macpherson said they believed a “substantial” number of properties at Knoflokskraal are second properties belonging to people who actually live in Cape Town but use their plots as “holiday homes”.
The department will also ask the court for an order “prohibiting unlawful conduct” and to instruct the police to enforce the court orders.
The department said it also received evidence that illegal levies were being collected from residents.
Macpherson said they are approaching the court for a containment order, not an eviction.
“Where there are genuine social issues, vulnerable people or poor people, we will then work with the municipality, and other spheres of government, to understand what we then do, and the court will help us do that,” he said.
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© 2026 GroundUp. This article is published under the GroundUp Republication Licence Version 1.0. Email [email protected] to request permission to republish.