Call for calm amid land invasion dispute
The KZN Department of Human Settlements has called for calm and patience from the residents of Puntans Hill in Morningside - amid a dispute sparked by a land invasion in the area.
A house on Earl Haig Road belonging to a 51-year-old woman was petrol-bombed this week - allegedly by shack-dwellers.
They had erected their shacks on the property but the structures were recently demolished by the municipality.
The department's Mbulelo Baloyi says there will be ongoing talks with all stakeholders to try and bring stability in the area.
Baloyi says they are working with the eThekwini Municipality to see how the plan to build houses for residents of the informal settlements can be implemented.
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"We must make sure that the output of that informal settlement must take place in the form of making sure those inhabitants are given houses where they should be. It's a process that may take some time. What we have to do now is make sure there's no escalation, we have to deescalate tensions or hostilities, so that no more properties or life is being threatened," he said.
Police say an investigation is still underway. No arrests have yet been made.