Crezane Bosch led a delegation that opened a case at the public protector to investigate EFF instigated land grabs.
The DA also wrote to the Tshwane speaker of Council to investigate EFF councillors partaking in this.
Tshwane Speaker must investigate EFF councillor for inciting Olievenhoutbosch land grabs
by Crezane Bosch MPL – DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Community Safety
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lodged a formal complaint to the Speaker of Tshwane, Councillor Murnwa Makwarela, to initiate an urgent investigation into the EFF councillor whose name the party posted on social media as a contact person for land invasions in Olievenhoutbosch.
The EFF is once again using our residents to achieve its political agenda of ‘get land for free’ which is illegal and exposing our people to more suffering.
This weekend tracts of public and private land in Olievenhoutbosch and neighbouring areas was unlawfully occupied, a set of events that coincided with a tweet from the official account of the EFF in which it invited all comers to ‘get land for free’.
The tweet cited councillor Godwin Ratikwane, an EFF PR councillor in the area, as the relevant contact person. A day later Ratikwane also retweeted EFF messages about the progress of the unlawful land invasions. Please see tweets here, and here.
This morning the DA lodged a complaint with the Speaker, asking for Councillor Ratikwane to be investigated for breaching the Code of Conduct for councillors by inciting trespassing and unlawful land occupation.
The Code is binding for all councillors, even those of the EFF, and enjoins councillors to act in good faith, honesty, always in the best interest of the municipality, and in such a way that the integrity and credibility of the municipality are not compromised.
The EFF is clearly desperate to destabilise the multi-party government in Tshwane, having failed this past week, along with the ANC, in their attempt to remove Mayor Randall Williams as the mayor in a motion of no confidence.
But if the EFF thinks that land invasions are popular, they are mistaken. Most homeowners in South Africa are black South Africans, the very constituency the EFF claims to represent. Like all homeowners, they detest land invasions and the kind of lawlessness advocated by the EFF.
While the EFF is quick to encourage land grabs, they are usually nowhere to be seen when homes built on unsuitable land are flooded or unserviceable. The EFF also needs to offer explanations to the South African citizens who get bumped down the waiting list for homes and services every time public land is unlawfully occupied.
The DA will be writing to the South African police in Gauteng to include Councillor Ratikwane in their investigation, and to act with speed and resolve against all instances of trespassing and unlawful land invasions.
In the meantime, we also encourage all landowners to take proactive steps to safeguard their own constitutional rights. The unlawful occupation of the land must immediately be reported to the police as trespassing, and complainants must insist on case numbers. If landowners are absent, we ask that they make arrangements with their neighbours so that unlawful occupations do not go unreported.
https://ewn.co.za/2022/08/21/da-to-table-new-legislation-to-parly-to-tackle-illegal-land-grabs
Views: 15