http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20070710100901378C608216

July 10 2007

Council has in an 11th-hour move agreed to provide tented accommodation for the people it left without homes after a raid by the Land Invasion Unit (LIU).

Informal residents of the controversial Crossmoore settlement in Chatsworth applied for an urgent High Court Interdict last Friday to compel the council to provide them with shelter.

This after the LIU moved on to the property and again demolished the shanty homes of at least 40 families on Thursday, amid claims that some councillors were inciting people to illegally occupy the land.

Director of the Legal Resource Centre, Mahendra Chetty, who was approached by the residents, said the formal court application would be withdrawn from court on Tuesday morning.

In return, attorneys representing council in negotiations on Monday agreed that the municipality would provide tents to those who had their shacks demolished.

The Crossmoore settlement has been at the centre of controversy since about 20 families defied council and built shacks on the vacant land a year ago. The SAPS and LIU have since clashed with residents during many land clearance operations.

The demolitions have also attracted the attention of the Diakonia Council of Churches, which condemned the clearance operations.

On Monday, the Diakonia said it had evidence of “flagrant carelessness for the basic human rights of the individuals and families concerned as well as the due processes of law”.

“The Diakonia Council of Churches urges those responsible to act hastily to remedy their actions and calls on the surrounding communities to respond to this situation.”