The FF Plus demands that the Free State MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport, Maqueen Mathae, see to it that the court order against illegal land occupation in Lourierpark is enforced.
Around 6 000 illegal occupants have started erecting illegal structures in Lourierpark between Pellissier and Bloemdal next to the Jagersfontein Road.
The Metro has already obtained in interim interdict against the occupants. The court order prohibits any new occupations and the erection of any structures on municipal property.
In the meantime, the Mayor of the Mangaung Metro, Gregory Nthatisi, has granted the occupants permission to stay. This is in direct contravention of the court order.
Clearly, the ANC is failing to take appropriate action because it may lose votes in the upcoming elections.
According to the FF Plus’s knowledge, ANC ward councillors exploited the occupants’ hunger for land to incite the illegal land grab.
Although populist statements about land and property are frequently made, the ANC in the Free State’s own Department of Human Settlements failed to spend more than just 36,7% of the housing budget at its disposal in the 2022/2023 financial year.
So, in the process, the Department failed to meet more than 81% of its housing targets.
This Department has to return hundreds of millions to the National Treasury (NT) every year due to its failed housing projects.
The FF Plus has been in regular contact with the Department tasked with ensuring that law and order is maintained since Saturday.
The party will keep monitoring the process of obtaining a final court order against the illegal occupants, and will insist that the Metro honours and enforces it.
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