Police monitor as Red Ants remove more shacks in Hermanus
17 September 2018
Police were monitoring another eviction in Hermanus on Monday as the Overstrand municipality started to clear two sites.
"Kindly be advised that [SA Police Service] members have been deployed in Hermanus to police an eviction process and to maintain law and order," Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut said.
"No one has been arrested as yet."
Overstrand municipal manager Coenie Groenewald said: "They are busy clearing on one side. They are looking at all structures that are unoccupied.
"We are trying to address this as humanely as possible."
He said the shacks which were being cleared from Schulphoek and near the "Marikana" koppie were empty inside.
In the meantime, the technical committee handling the ongoing process to find suitable land for backyard dwellers, who said in March they could not afford high rentals anymore, was expected to meet on Thursday for an update.
MEC for Human Settlements Bonginkosi Madikizela appointed the committee. He will not be present at the meeting as reported on Friday. Instead, representatives from his office are expected to meet representatives of the Zwelihle Renewal Committee.
Discussions are expected to include an update on the purchase of a plot, called Schulphoek, from private developers who bought the land from the municipality. The municipality cannot buy the land back, so the MEC is trying to facilitate its purchase for development for increasing accommodation requirements in the town for Zwelihle residents.
Protests erupted in March after a group of people started pegging out plots on vacant land next to Zwelihle, a suburb of the town known for its whale watching and art.
They said they would build their own homes and that the municipality should provide utilities for them.
The Red Ants arrived to remove them and since then, there have been on-and-off clashes with police. Large groups of people have been arrested for alleged public violence.
A policeman was also seriously injured when attackers used an axe to hit him on the head as he was robbed of his service weapons.
