Issued by: Minister of Land Affairs
The Minister of Land Affairs, Mr Derek Hanekom, has confirmed his involvement in attempting to resolve the issue of land invasions and evictions of informal settlers, following a number of recent cases, especially in Gauteng.
"I want to encourage co-operation between national, provincial and local authorities on the issue of land invasions and evictions. I am sympathetic to the problems faced by local government, which is directly confronted with the day-to-day realities of land invasions and illegal occupations of land. However, there is a national policy on how to deal with these matters and I would like all three tiers of government to develop a common approach that is consistent with that policy, which is that if people are to be moved from a piece of land they occupy - legally or otherwise - they have to be offered an alternative. We cannot as government destroy people's homes and leave them stranded. I am therefore calling on provincial and local authorities to work with my Department to try and resolve these issues in the interest of all parties concerned.
I am completely opposed to land invasions - I made that clear most recently in our Green Paper on Land Policy which was released on 1 February. Land invasions are counter-productive as they often become an obstacle to the delivery of land to those who have followed the correct procedures for acquiring land. They can also be a mechanism of exploitation by means of which unscrupulous "warlords" enrich themselves at the expense of the landless. However, we have to acknowledge that land invasions are usually the result of the frustration and despair experienced by people who have no land and who believe they have no immediate prospect of getting any. It is therefore incumbent on us to work together to find a reasonable and humane solution for each problem before we go to court seeing eviction orders.
I want to urge government bodies, at whatever level to:
The problem of landlessness and land invasions is a national one. It is important that we all work together to solve it.
The Gauteng Provincial Government is, together with my department, developing an approach to manage the situation in that province. In addition, the Gauteng Department of Development Planning, Environment and Works is involved in ongoing discussion with local authorities to refine a strategy. My door is open for similar discussions with any other provincial government.
Derek Hanekom MP Minister of Land Affairs 9 February 1996