A land invasion in Ottery has raised concern among residents who have asked the land owners to intervene and clear an area that has been illegally occupied.
TheOtteryNeighbourhood Watch and residents said the sudden appearance of a small informal settlement in Hector Road, on an open piece of land, has caused anxiety for the community.
Jasmine Noah from the neighbourhood watch said there was one shack last year but there has since been an influx of people and there are now 11 structures on the land.
Ms Noah claims that since the squatters appeared, there have been robberies and house break-ins in the area and reports of drug peddling and drug use at the site.
“We have a few hot spots in the area that we monitor but since the informal settlement appeared we have had several incidents where stolen goods were found there. About a month ago two women were robbed and their handbags were stolen. We found the handbags at one of the structures in Hector Road,” said Ms Noah.
She said the neighbourhood watch are doing all they can to safeguard residents.
“We are trying to keep the community safe but this place is getting worse.
“The structures need to be removed because they are causing a danger to residents’ safety and something needs to be done about it,” said Ms Noah.
Former ward councillor Melanie Arendse, who lives in the area, said the land belongs to the New Apostolic Church and she has enquired why the squatters have not yet been removed.
“I have spoken to someone at the church but nothing has been done about the situation. We have contacted law enforcement but they were unable to remove the structures because it is on private property.
“We need the church to do something before the informal settlement gets any bigger. We wouldn’t have a problem with the informal settlement but since crimes have been linked to it we want it gone,” said Ms Arendse.
Kenny Kotze, the spokesman of the New Apostolic Cape district, said they are aware of the land occupation but said the land “technically” does not belong to them any longer.
“It is a bit complex because the land initially belonged to the City of Cape Town. We bought it and wanted to use the land but the church leadership decided that we no longer wanted to develop in the area,” said Mr Kotze.
The land was bought from the City in 1997 and in the contract with the City it states that if the land is not developed it should be sold back to the City.
“That’s where we are currently in the process, we are looking to sell the land back to the City and that is the reason why we as the church have not taken any action against the squatters,” he said.
Ward councillor William Akim said the City is aware of the land occupation.
“As far as we’re concerned, the land still belongs to the church. When I heard about it I sent a notification to Law Enforcement and the structures were removed about two months ago,” said Mr Akim.
He said the City will be in contact with the church to address the issue and hopes to resolve the issue.