Durban — The arrest and court appearance of 70 suspects who allegedly invaded a protected area have been welcomed by iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority.
The 70 appeared in the Mtubatuba Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, on charges of trespassing and malicious injury to property, in the Futululu Forest, which falls under the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
On August 16, 2022, the people invaded the forest which is state-land managed by iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
Spokesperson Bheki Manzini said there were recent unlawful incidents of invasion that started around August 16 where a group of people unlawfully invaded the Futululu Forest demanding the land for farming purposes and some stands being sold for residential purposes.
He said that police were called and arrested the suspects.
Manzini said that the first wave of illegal invasion started on March 21, 2022, when around 100 people invaded the Futululu Forest using the access point opposite the entrance of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) base known as 121 Battalion.
“The number of the invaders kept growing and was estimated to be about 300 people at some point. iSimangaliso brought the application to the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
“(It sought) court intervention as efforts to engage the community and the invaders through dialogue and meetings were not yielding positive results. Some community members continued with the invasion and destroying park infrastructure,” Manzini said.
He said that the Pietermaritzburg High Court granted an interim interdict on April 11, 2022, which stated that “the respondents and anyone acting through, or with, the respondents are interdicted from entering or invading, occupying and/or removing any vegetation and/or erecting any structures on the area known as the Futululu”.
On June 23, 2022, the court handed down the final court order which ordered that the respondents be cited in the order. Anyone acting through or with them was interdicted from entering or invading, occupying and/or removing any vegetation and/or erecting any structures in the forest.
“iSimangaliso would like to express its disappointment that despite the instruction of the court, some elements of the community have decided to again embark on unlawful activities and trespassing while the engagement with communities is still in progress,” Manzini said.
He added that since the start of these unlawful acts, the Park Authority had held several meetings with community leaders in an attempt to find an amicable solution.
Meetings involved structures such as the leadership of the traditional authority, municipal ward councillors, land claimants’ leadership, Dukuduku settlement trust committee, farmers’ representatives, and representatives from people and parks structure, among others.
“iSimangaliso would like to warn members of the public not to be lured into buying stands and trespassing into Futululu Forest. Such action will be in contravention of the Pietermaritzburg High Court order and may lead to an arrest,” Manzini said.
National Prosecuting Authority KwaZulu-Natal regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said that a group of 70 people appeared in the Mtubatuba Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, on charges of trespassing and malicious injury to property in Futululu Forest.
Ramkisson-Kara said that they were released on a warning and the matter was adjourned to September 19, 2022, for further investigations.
“In April 2022, an interdict was granted to iSimangaliso Wetland Park prohibiting any person to enter the Futululu Forest and/or remove or cut any vegetation. To this effect, a notice was affixed to the area where the prohibition exists.
“On August 16, 2022, the 70 people allegedly forced their way into the restricted area and began cutting vegetation. They were subsequently arrested,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
Daily News