City wins battle to stop Khoi-San illegal land occupation in Mitchells Plain

THE City of Cape Town has won the right to prevent members of the Khoi-San community from unlawfully occupying vacant land in Mitchells Plain.

- NICOLA MAWSON

The legal battle revolves around Khoi-San representative Johannes van Rooyen, who had previously told the South African Human Rights Commission that the community would be repossessing land.

The judge noted that Van Rooyen said he had a mandate to secure land for his people.

This led the City to seek an anti-land-invasion interdict against Van Rooyen and others he represented.

An anti-land-intrusion interdict is a court order that allows a landowner to stop unlawful occupation before it occurs. It differs from an eviction, which is used to remove people already illegally occupying land, often under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE).