- Tensions continue to mount around the use and occupation of Lentegeur Sports field with two opposing sides at loggerheads.
- The City of Cape Town has obtained two court interdicts against the land grabs by G4 Developers.
- Despite the first interdict obtained earlier last week around the occupation, the group held another meeting at the field on Saturday.
- For more news from the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, go to the People’s Post front page.
Tensions continue to mount around the use and occupation of Lentegeur Sports field with two opposing sides at loggerheads.
Following a first attempt to occupy the field by G4 Developers on Sunday 22 October, the City of Cape Town has obtained two court interdicts against the land grabs.
Riaan Koeberg, chair of G4 appeared in the Cape High Court on Saturday 4 November on the recent interdict to prevent him or anyone associated to his group from entering or obstructing any municipal building, road way or occupation of land.
Despite the first interdict obtained earlier last week around the occupation, the group held another meeting at the field on Saturday with around 100 residents belonging to the group.
This follows a protest demonstration by the sporting fraternity who make use of the field along with other residents, interested stakeholders and Ward 76 councillor, Avron Plaatjies on Tuesday 31 October along Morgenster Road.
READ | City of Cape Town obtains interdict against land grabs at Lentegeur Sports Field
Players linked to various sporting codes along with their leadership were among the group chanting “leave our fields”.
“We have waited so long for this field to be upgraded and we cannot allow anyone to come into this field and invade this space,” said Plaatjies at the time. “This is all we have and this field is due for upgrade. Simply because of that crucial moment, it means so much to all of these clubs and the youngsters.”
Collegians Rugby Club spokesperson Faseegh Creighton says he grew up with the club and agrees that sport is imperative for keeping the youth out of the reach of social ills.
“A child in sport is a child off the streets,” says Creighton. “We have seen with the lack of sorting facilities Mitchell’s Plain has, how many children have turned to gangsterism and violence.”
“I am a child of Lentegeur and all of my friends and family belong to Collegians and that has kept us going,” Creighton continues.
The club has around 600 members and has struggled as a Super League team without a home ground, he continues.
“We have been waiting for so long to have this field revived,” he says. “Now that we are in the process of having the security walls installed, we can’t have this.”
Plaatjies agrees. “This is going to save our kids from the streets, from going to drug lords and gangsterism. A sports field that can create an inclusive space where we can create social cohesion for everybody, including those who want to make use of Lentegeur sports field,” he says.
Creighton confirms at the first attempt, the sporting codes were informed about the attempt to occupy the field and went to assist, although Law Enforcement was quick to stop the attempt.
READ | Land grab attempt at a Mitchell’s Plain Sports Field foiled
At the first attempt, Koeberg said: “We are not going to stop. We are going bigger. We have a big housing crisis in Mitchell’s Plain. We have 150 members now, but next week we will have 20 000.”
He confirms the first interdict was hand-delivered to him. “We will not accept anything this government is giving or doing. They are only doing it for their political interests. This land belongs to the people of Mitchell’s Plain,” he says to People’s Post.
He continues that documents in his possession do not indicate the City or anyone else as owners of this land parcel, claiming it is “stolen” land.
“Lentegeur sports field was chosen because that sports field has been a disaster for years and the land was allocated for housing. But instead of building they dump dead bodies in that bush, so why can’t the people that are on the waiting list for years benefit out of it?” he says.
Members of G4 were visibly irate about the interdict and voiced their frustrations around the continued efforts to stop them from “reclaiming” the land.
The residents are from Beacon Valley, Lentegeur, Tafelsig and the surrounding areas and all reside in backyards. They have been on the City’s housing waiting list ranging up to 43 years.
Koeberg says this land has already been earmarked for housing, but has now been delayed for 12 years.
Plaatjies confirms a portion of the erf has been allocated for housing, however, it had been halted due to criminality.
“They are dumping bodies here. Let us move on to the land and then when they build the houses, move us to the side. If we are on the land, the dumping of bodies will stop,” says Koeberg.
Thick vegetation and overgrowth were cleared from the plot last week.
Speaking as a group to People’s Post on Saturday, the members of G4 Developers say this is to create a better future for their children, first.“We want peace of mind as a community. We have children and want to stand together for them against all these odds,” one resident said.“This (interdict) is sad and unfair. Riaan is just a voice for us. If he must be arrested, then we must all be arrested. What happens to him must happen to all of us,” said one, with another commenting: “We have been on the housing waiting list for years.
“People from Kosovo were given houses when hundreds of people from New Woodlands are still waiting.”
This referred specifically to the Western Cape Government’s Farm 694 housing development built in Ward 75.
The group has called for Plaatjies to resign.
“How can a child play soccer if he or she doesn’t have a home?” Koeberg says.
“We want houses,” the group says. “It is as simple as that.”
“Most of these people are elderly and don’t work. We cannot afford the rent. There are people on the streets,” says Koeberg.
Rent and landlord issues are one of the leading concerns listed in a memorandum written by the group.
“We can pay R1 000 today and then next week it is R2 500,” says one member.
“They put your electricity off without warning,” laments another.
Unemployment, nowhere else to go and overcrowding at houses and in these backyards are contributing to gangsterism and crime, they continue.
The City is unwilling to accept this document, Koeberg claims.
