The government has been told that 100 buildings in Mthatha, including hotels and warehouses, have been hijacked and are now run by one syndicate.
This gang, run by five men, was extracting “rents”, selling land illegally and imposing a reign of terror, said Mthatha Civil Society Forum convener Phumelele Madikiza.
He said Mthatha was turning into a “mini banana republic”.
Nothing was sacred, not even police land at Police Camp, said acting public works HoD Mahlubandile Qwase.
Madikiza wrote to Oscar Mabuyane, who is both the finance MEC and the ANC’s provincial chairman.
In a follow-up to the letter on Tuesday, the forum met a team of government leaders at Mthatha’s Savoy Hotel.
At the meeting, attended by about 30 people including the Dispatch reporter, were safety and liaison MEC Wezizwe Tikana, KSD mayor Dumani Zozo, provincial SAPS commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga and her deputy, Major-General Andre Swart, Qwase, Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) CEO Ndzondelelo Dlulane, and senior managers of various state departments. The forum was represented by business leaders, professionals, royals, the clergy and community elders.
Forum members called on the state to send law enforcement agencies, and asked for a crackdown on the “hijackers”.
Peter Madasa, the chairman of Transkei Hotel, said it took 10 years for his hijacked hotel to be returned to him by a high court ruling in March.
Both urban property and farmland were being invaded and illegally sold off to squatters, forum members claimed.
Madikiza said: “One of our main concerns is the hijacking and invasion of state properties.
“It is important that we stand firm and take action against the mayhem in Mthatha so that we have a safer town.”
He said many of the properties taken over belong to the ECDC and public works department, but church land and houses in De Coligny had also been invaded.
Tikana said she was impressed with the forum’s initiative and promised to crack down on the lawbreakers.
Dlulane said since December 2017 about 90 ECDC properties, including hotels, flats and warehouses had been invaded.
Qwase said more than 20 properties including residential properties and farms belonging to the national and provincial public works departments had been hijacked or “sold”.
Qwase’s list included:..