The Minister of Police has been ordered to assist the sheriff of the court to remove offenders and to demolish their structures after they have invaded a farm north of Pretoria on Monday.
The Supreme Court of North Gauteng gave the order on Friday afternoon, after the owners of the farm and lobby group AfriForum had turned it on for help. They claimed that the SA Police Service had done nothing about the invasion.
The urgent application, which the Minister of Police and the station commander of the police station of Soshanguve called parties, was unhindered.
Dr. Motodi Maserumule, who is one of the owners of the 120-hectare farm, told News24 that there was a clear sense of zero urgency for the police to do something about the land invasion, despite the fact that they were on the spot.
"We started calling on them (the police) when nothing could be removed from the property, if they had just arrived at that stage and chased those people away, we will not be here, but it has rolled over," Maserumule said.
He added that the police refused to help him when he tried to open a case about a violation. The police opened a case and only went to the farm after AfriForum intervened, he added.
& # 39; I own the property & # 39;
AfriForum's head of community security, Ian Cameron, said that during their absence the police noticed that they were protecting Maserumule's property. Therefore they had no alternative but to ask the court for help.
When Maserumule was first informed that people had started on Monday to invade his farm, he investigated and found a group of people on the site, as well as a corrugated iron hut with the word "office" painted on it.
He approached the group of people who threatened him for the first time. Later they offered him a stand on his own land, Maserumule said as he laughed.
& # 39; When I arrived there on Monday, I pointed out to them that I am the owner of the property and that I have papers for the farm. They did not want to listen, & # 39; said Maserumule.
"They offered to give me a stand of 40 meters by 40 meters."
He said that the tribune was initially issued free of charge. People only had to pay R500 for making a road. Later, however, they were charged R500 for a stand on top of the compensation for the road.
Maserumule said that on Thursday there were ten partially constructed structures on the site and that more people were cleaning up vegetation on demarcated stands.
Maserumule, together with its business partners, Kgoshi Phaahla and Diphete Bopape, bought the farm in 2007 with the intention of developing it.
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