Defiant residents of the Bayland informal settlement have vowed to remain on the land they occupy illegally despite an eviction order by Eastern Cape High Court (Gqeberha) Judge Sunil Rugunanan.

The Herald reports while the court ordered the sheriff to seek assistance from the police and metro police to evict the residents after 14 days and demolish their shacks, the occupiers have said they are going nowhere.

The 14 days – made on 8 September but only served to residents on 13 September – will lapse on 30 September.

In the interim, the Bayland occupiers say they have written to a human rights lawyer to challenge the evictions. In its application to the court for the eviction order, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality said the residents had illegally occupied the land, known as farm 586, off the old Uitenhage Road.

The land invaders had also built directly underneath power lines, which presented a safety hazard.

An e-mail sent by residents to Nomathemba Tyulu, an Eastern Cape legal officer at the Human Rights Commission, states: ‘We have received once again eviction notice as the Bayland community to vacate the area within 14 days and the court judgment was not fair to the community as it did not provide the clarity as to why we have to vacate. We would like to appeal (against) the court order as soon as possible.’

Tyulu advised residents to forward the order and intention to appeal it to Legal Aid SA.

But human settlements political head Masixole Zinto said Bayland residents were given enough notice to vacate the land before the court ruled on the matter.

He said the residents decided to ignore the law and continued to build shacks, despite the call to stop.

Full report in The Herald