It seems that Sedgefield is set to be continually plagued with housing and land issues, setting communities against one another as more and more informal houses spring up.
The last two weeks came close to erupting into riots during a face-off between some Smutsville residents and local authorities, as more than sixty informal homes sprang up on municipal land behind the old ‘U-Save’ supermarket building.
Historically hesitant in taking action against this sort of offence, this time round Knysna Municipality management threw down the gauntlet and initiated court orders to have the structures dismantled and removed.
Structures made of anything from corrugated iron to cardboard, even simple camping tents popped up all over the grounds, despite regular warnings from Law Enforcement and SAPS members.
An initial order had been granted by the courts on 24 October, demanding that those at the beginning stages of informal home construction should cease and desist their actions. But this didn’t seem to serve as a realistic deterrent, and building continued.
Hence the local authority’s decision to take further legal action to prosecute those who had ignored the first court order.
“A docket has been opened at the Sedgefield SAPS office for contempt of court,” explained Dr Richard Martin, Acting Municipal Manager at the time, adding that the interim court order was issued by the High Court of South Africa to evict illegal land invaders from municipal owned properties next to U-Save AND on the dunes in Smutsville.
“We are compiling a list of individuals who have illegally built and occupied any structures on the identified properties and individual dockets will be opened for trespassing and the contravention of the interim court order. We are also breaking down half-built illegal structures on the properties.”
Whilst some heaved a sigh of relief at the Municipality’s actions, others were desperate enough to keep building.
Frustrating History
The occupied land behind Usave is earmarked for the Sedgefield Infill Housing Programme, set to deliver more than 150 serviced sites during its first phase, for which many have been patiently waiting.
“Continued illegal occupation of this site will jeopardise this R10.7 million housing project. I once again ask that all residents cooperate with officials during this time,” Dr Martin said.
But many residents of Smutsville are far from convinced the infill housing will ever happen. Understandably so, as the only movement on the project for years has been a continuous jumping on and off the Knysna Municipal Budget.
Many will remember promises made in the first quarter of 2019, after a second housing march in as many years had led to a riot in Sedgefield including clashes with Public Order Police members and the blocking of the N2 by angry residents. As reported in The EDGE of 20 March that year, the municipality managed to subdue the riot by presenting a time-line for the construction of 220 subsidised homes in the Smutsville Sizamile suburbs – with the promise of building commencing ‘within 10 to 12 months’.
Six and a half years later there is still no sign of a single building block being laid down.
The Municipality maintains that the project is still on the cards and that the transgressors are violating the rights of approximately 300 people who will be formal housing beneficiaries. “These include individuals representative of the disabled, elderly, military veterans and child-headed households, who have all been pre-screened by the provincial government,” Dr Martin said on Friday, “We will prosecute these transgressors to the fullest extent of the law to protect the interests of our residents. Members of the community who are engaged with this – and any other – type of illegal activity are urged to desist immediately,”
“We have appointed a service provider to assist in deconstructing and removing illegal structures from both the properties next to Usave and the Sedgefield Dune,” the Acting Municipal Manager continued,, “Around the clock security will prevent any further construction or illegal occupation. The cluster will implement an over-arching anti-land invasion plan.”
He says the interim order and interdict recognise the situation as a matter of urgency, ordering that the land invaders may not erect any structures on the land in question; they may not enter the existing unlawfully erected structures; and they may not enter the property in question.
Meanwhile, despite a 2020 court order, houses are continuously being erected on the crest of the ecologically sensitive dune over-looking Groenvallei, whilst others are popping up on the dune between ‘Die Gaatjie’ and Myoli. It seems almost certain that as generation after generation of Smutsville residents face a future of no space in which to live with their families, unless land that is safe to build on is identified by the Municipality, this hot potato is only going to get hotter.
