Illegal land occupation is a major problem for municipalities - Tshwane mayor
Tshwane mayor, Cilliers Brink says unlawful land occupation is a major problem for municipalities.
Brink says the laws regulating land and properties are not written in favour of municipalities and property owners.
"What makes unlawful land occupation more complicated are the laws and jurisprudence, because if the municipality wants to evict folks who have been living on our land, we have to provide alternative accommodation, within a certain radius".
Brink shared these sentiments on Jacaranda FM's Breakfast with Martin Bester.
He says the city does not have sufficient funds to provide alternative accommodation to everyone.
"We have to prevent unlawful land occupation from happening in the first place, which is why developing land is important".
"It is also important for us to have effective law enforcement, but to ask private landowners as well, that if you are an absent landlord, you need to ensure you've empowered your neighbor to go and make a case of trespassing on your behalf, because some of the land is not owned by government where we don't even have authority without the power of attorney from the property owner to act" said Brink.
Brink highlights the issue of illegal land occupation as South Africa continues to experience a high rate of 'hijacked buildings', especially in the Johanneburg CBD, where in a recent incident, a blaze claimed more than 70 lives in a hijacked building.
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