A family in Ezibeleni has taken legal action against a police official following an illegal land occupation dispute.
“People arrived at our home on Saturday asking for keys to access our property near our home. They claim to have bought the plot from someone. We told them that we were in possession of a title deed and that the land was ours. They left and came back with several vehicles, including a police vehicle driven by police officials, which carried furniture. They broke the padlock on the gate and went inside to offload their furniture,” said daughter of the plot owner, Thandeka Nyito.
Video footage and pictures of two police officials offloading furniture from the vehicles to the main house on the said premises was shown to The Rep.
“We called the police and when the people were asked if they had documents to prove that the plot was indeed theirs, they said the only thing they had was a bank statement which was proof that they had bought the land in June.”
Nyito indicated that a man from Cacadu, only identified as Fanavele, had in previous years forcefully occupied this land where he later built a two- roomed house which he later sold to someone else.
“This has been bothering me for years because that is my space. All I want is my land,” said owner Nomalungisa Nyito
Director of Matiwane Attorneys, Zolile Matiwane, said an urgent application was made and the occupants were recently served with a court order. “We will write to the MEC to report these police officials for misusing a police vehicle and for taking advantage of an elderly woman who has a title deed for that land. We have a deed of grant signed in 1998 in favour of Nyito, a valid document to show that she is the rightful owner of that particular land. We expect legal action to be taken against them.” Matiwane said he would further engage with the police district commissioner on the matter.
The occupants’ legal representative Luzuko Mazaleni, director of L.Mazaleni Attorneys Inc, who questioned the validity of the title deed stated that the matter had to be thoroughly investigated adding that the court order in itself was misdirected. “They can’t be interdicted from entering and occupying the premises as the family already stays there.” Mazaleni indicated that they intend on taking the matter to the high court to dispute ownership of the home.
Police spokesperson Captain Namhla Mdleleni said no case was reported to the police concerning the matter.
