Growing concerns as hundreds set up illegal homes in Cato Crest
The eThekwini Municipality is hopeful the courts will inform on how they can proceed in tackling a spate of land invasions in the municipality in recent days.
Officials say they will begin demolishing the shacks immediately if granted an interdict by the Durban High Court.
This after hundreds of people began setting up homes in the Cato Manor and Cato Crest areas this week.
On Tuesday, they started clearing land, cutting down trees and burning the bush.
"We feel sorry for all the residents but we will do everything in our power to ensure that there is law and order because at the end of the day - it is incumbent on us as a municipality that we ensure that this scourge is nipped in the bud.
Under no circumstances shall we have a situation whereby people will just wake up in the morning and do something that's totally against the laws of this country," eThekwini's Msawakhe Mayisela said.
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Meanwhile, some residents who have been living in the area for years say they are too afraid to leave their homes.
"People are also building shacks there, they're burning trees day and night and our children are beginning to get sick. We can't sell our houses," Mayisela said.
