During the weeks of January 8th until the 18th of January 2018 East London residents participated in what was termed by media ‘the largest land invasion’ Buffalo City Metro Municipality had ever seen. During this period, scores of East London residents rushed to grab themselves a piece of land near or along the R72 road in a bid to become land owners and ultimately home owners. Four individuals namely, Themba Boqwana, Buntu Nonkelela, Sande Dotyeni and Thando Wontoti sought to create order during a time of chaos. They successfully negotiated with the land owner and began a process with the many people who had participated in land grabbing’s. Under the umbrella of a registered company called Kaziware (Pty) Ltd, they facilitated a land ownership opportunity for many previously disadvantaged groups. They called their project, Cove Rock New Development.
The objectives of the project are but not limited to:
• Redress apartheid spatial planning legacies
• Establish key, replicable levers to unlock other well-located properties.
• Develop a desirable, integrated, secure, affordable and sustainable neighborhood close to the City where people can live, work, play and learn.
• To tackle urban squalor
• Ensure land ownership by missing middle. Those who cannot qualify for RDP housing and cannot afford bonds
• Promote social cohesion
• Effective land use for provision of housing to urban working class
• Create opportunities for similar projects to be implemented
• Ensure peaceful land ownership transfer between willing buyers and willing sellers
They began by encouraging other fellow land invaders and the general public to participate in a land purchases with them. The journey would be long, the concept was new, the initiative was developmental and their intentions were great.
In December 2018 they successfully purchased Farm 938 from Mr Rob Pollock and began a process of development for the beneficiary of various people.