Transnet eviction appeal application a further blow to public safety
20 August 2026
In the past week, the City has been alerted to at least two incidents where three cyclists were attacked in the lower Woodstock area – the latest in a series of public safety incidents since an illegal land occupation took hold there, post pandemic.
The attacks, highlighted by the Pedal Power Association, have again highlighted the crime threat posed by the unlawful occupation in the area after last month’s High Court judgment that paved the way for the landowner to vacate the affected areas in Woodstock and Salt River.
It also coincides with Ndifuna Ukwazi’s announcement that it plans to apply for leave to appeal the judgment.
Ironically, their application is based, inter alia, on a denial that there was any evidence or reason for the judge to conclude that it is reasonable to assume that the occupants are responsible for at least some of the almost daily incidents of crime in the area.
The illegal occupation and the associated anti-social and criminal behaviour has wrought havoc on surrounding communities, effectively removed a vital cycling lane from people travelling to the city using a cycle, as well as road users.
It has also placed an enormous strain on City and SAPS resources, given the extensive evidence of cable theft, drug dealing and associated petty crime which is visible on site itself, and which the court in this matter took the time to see on a site inspection conducted before the order was given.
The City was hopeful that the judgment and the vacating of the affected areas would bring some respite to the members of the public using the N1, the cycling fraternity and the City itself in this regard.
Protracted appal litigation will likely cause delays and make it very difficult to effectively stop attacks on road users and cyclists that continue to emanate from this site, like the ones reported in this past week, and those we have seen escalating over the past few years as the occupation has grown and the criminals have become more emboldened.
The City is hopeful that Transnet will now act to ensure that access to and across its land is curtailed and any growth in the occupation of its land curtailed, it too faces an uphill battle of continued vandalism and crime on its land while this occupation is not addressed.
While the City respects every person’s right to access legal redress to protect their rights, the Cycling fraternity, the surrounding community, business owners and N1 road users must start asking the question whether their rights too to reasonably use and access public roads both in cars and on bikes, without fear of attack, are being adequately considered when organisations like Ndifuna Ukwazi file notices of appeal for their clients in which there is a denial of the extensive evidence of this criminal activity from and at this site.
In so doing, they are suggesting that the evidence of continued and sustained muggings, stripping of vital infrastructure, cable theft and other crimes at this site, which the City painstakingly put up to the court, must be thought away in favour of the rights of the occupants to remain in occupation of the Transnet land in question during any appeal process, which we know can take months if not years to finalise.
The City intends to oppose the leave to appeal application but in the meantime, these risks to public safety will continue.
I urge residents to please continue to report any criminality linked to this land invasion to City Enforcement and the SAPS.