Land grab mayhem in Kroondal
Rustenburg/ Kroondal – Residents of Arnoldistad in Kroondal endured a three-day ordeal of repeatedly fending off a large group of people trying to illegally occupy a private piece of land in the area.
On Thursday 13 August, residents were shocked to find a handful of people marking off pieces of land on a property. Alarmingly, the group grew in numbers turning into a mass gathering.
Various organisations, police officials and concerned community members rushed to the scene and successfully assisted the residents to dismantle the group.
The following morning, however, the situation worsened when an even larger group of people turned up and started marking off a bigger portion on the land. They quickly placed poles and plastic bags on some areas to indicate the exact spots they intended to build structures on. The police were called to the scene and a distress call was again sent out to other community members as the numbers of the group kept on increasing.
It quickly turned into a very tense atmosphere when the group approached nearby residential properties wielding pangas and other weapons. Some of group members threw rocks at one of the cars – leaving the residents terrified.
An eviction order that was served to the group in the afternoon resulted in some of them leaving the area. However, one of the people who remained behind, started threatening to shoot and murder the residents.
The community became hopeful at around 18:00 when the group left after tempers had cooled down. On Saturday, an even larger group turned up. They blocked the roads and the traffic came to a standstill. Police were called to the scene when the group started throwing rocks at vehicles and they were forced to use rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Most members of the group then dispersed. A few of them made their way to the nearby
Kroondal Spar (Aug Behrens) where they threw rocks at cars.
Although life has - in the meantime - gone back to normal for the community, it will be quite a while before they get over this unsettling experience.
Police spokesperson Elsabé Augoustides confirmed to Platinum Weekly that three cases of malicious damage to property and one of public violence are being investigated. No arrests have been made yet and nobody was injured.
“It was terrifying seeing people walking around with pangas and hearing others threatening to murder us”, explained one of the Arnoldistad residents. “I am still not sleeping well, and we are on high alert at all times. However, I do feel a sense of comfort knowing that we have a great community that will stand together during difficult times like the one we just experienced," she added.