A Port Elizabeth man resisting the demolition of his "illegally-erected" shack has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder.
This, after hurling his baby from the roof of the shack as police negotiators attempted to coax him off the structure, one of several that were demolished on Thursday by a so-called Municipal land grab team, established about two months ago to deal with growing incidents of land invasions in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
Police spokesperson, Captain Andre' Beetge, said the baby girl was caught by a Metro police officer and was unharmed.
"We deployed police around the shack as well as a Nyala with a police member on the roof the vehicle to speak to this guy," said Beetge.
"After about three minutes this negotiator of ours indicated that this guy was very risky and a danger to his baby. They moved in and this guy threw his baby from the roof and luckily the baby was caught by one of the Metro police officers," Beetge said.
He said the man was arrested and will be charged with attempted murder and his wife was also detained on an unspecified charge.
He said about 90 structures were demolished during Thursday's operation in Joe Slovo West."
"The case will be investigated by the Motherwell Cluster Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit. The child will be handed back to her 35-year-old mother while Social Work Services will oversee and give assistance,"Beetge said.
Nelson Mandela Bay Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Nqaba Bhanga, was shocked to hear of the incident.
However, he said that the land in question in Joe Slovo has been earmarked for housing development which he said must go to the rightful beneficiaries.
"Some of these pieces of land already have approved beneficiaries, who have waited for years and years to get their houses. These people are occupying the land illegally that had already been allocated to the rightful owners, who are poor people," he said.
"We have to defend those people who have waited 25 years to get their own sites against those who just want to grab them and own them know," he said.
(Pics;SAPS)
