Law enforcement's conduct draws complaints

Following a recent George Herald article about homeless people's complaints about the conduct of some George Municipality Law Enforcement Unit officers, some further complaints were received.

- Alida de Beer

The Law Enforcement Unit has introduced 24-hour patrols.

This time, a mother of three, a resident of Spandiel Street, Borcherds, complained that a hut in which she lived on an erf where there was an existing informal structure, was demolished on Friday 19 September while she was at the clinic with her baby.

She was devastated when she arrived home to find law enforcement officers busy taking her place down. "They told me it was a tik house, which was not true.

"I was not given notice beforehand and they did not have a warrant," said the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous.

"They told me it was a tik house, which was not true. I was not given notice beforehand and they did not have a warrant," said the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous.

According to her, the occupants of the main structure were granted until after that weekend to remove it, and they were therefore able to take any recovered materials with them for reuse. She, however, was left with nothing, she said.

She and her two youngest children are currently being put up by a friend. She said her eldest daughter stays with her mother, the child's grandmother, during the week for school.

The woman said she had gone to the Housing Department (Human Settlements) and Law Enforcement Unit in order to complain, in the hopes of getting alternative building materials, but to no avail.