Cape Town - The provincial Department of Human Settlements has boosted security at its properties over the festive season and warned that it would engage authorities to act swiftly to prevent land invasions and illegal occupations of Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses.
Human Settlements MEC Tertuis Simmers said that over the past three years, the department had experienced more than 1 600 invasions of land earmarked for human settlement development across the province.
Simmers said the department had spent just over R100 million to secure its properties and to prevent invasions during that period.
During this same period, he said more than 100 Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses had been vandalised by illegal occupiers, costing the department a further R24m in repairs.
He said: “It is deeply concerning that the money spent on securing land and repairing vandalised houses could have been used to build over 700 BNG housing units for Western Cape citizens.”
Simmers said it could take up to three months or more to fix the damage, which also delayed delivery to the rightful owners of the houses.
During the Covid-19 lockdown period, two sites which formed part of the Silvertown Project in Khayelitsha were invaded. More than 500 units and serviced sites could not be built as a result of the invasion.
Simmers said these incidents severely affected the department’s ability to deliver housing opportunities to already identified, qualifying and deserving beneficiaries, who had been patiently and legally waiting for the Housing Demand Database for assistance.
“Should any resident notice any suspicious activity on open or state-owned land, or at a government housing development in their area, please report it to SAPS, the City’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit on 021 480 7700 or the Province’s Settlement Control Unit on 021 826 5701.”
Department spokesperson Muneera Allie said many perpetrators saw invasions and occupations as a means of jumping the housing queue, but that behaviour ultimately affected and skewed the allocation of budget and pipeline of planned housing opportunities.
The 2021/22 Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey showed the number of housebreaking incidents in December 2021 alone totalled an astronomical 146 000.
This was more than 60% higher than the break-ins tallied in January this year, which saw just 90 000 incidents.
Statistics SA meanwhile found that housebreaking incidents peaked in June and December during the 2018/19 period and June, September and December in 2019/20, dates coinciding with school holiday periods.
In Cape Town public libraries are facing an onslaught of burglaries and vandalism, with the Tafelsig Library being the latest facility left counting the cost of the damages.
Mayco member for community services and health, Patricia van der Ross, said the library was burgled in the early hours of Sunday when intruders gained access through the roof.
Apart from damage to the roof and computer cables, the thieves made off with a number of items including processing units, SmartCape computers, a monitor, a media screen, a smart television, a desk telephone and a USB speaker.