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Homeless

Jan 30
0

Hundreds evicted from buildings in Cape Town city centre

By | Eviction news, Homeless

Reprinted from CapeTownetc.com, by of GroundUp – 2024-01-28

Piles of suitcases, mattresses and items of furniture were strewn across the narrow Commercial Street in Cape Town on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hundreds of people, most of whom are foreign nationals, were evicted from three buildings in the city centre.

The area outside 42 and 44 Commercial Street was in chaos on Wednesday as dozens of South African Police Service (SAPS) officers and immigration officials cordoned off the street where the occupiers remained with their belongings. The occupied buildings are in close proximity to Parliament.

According to Western Cape SAPS spokesperson Malcolm Pojie, more than 100 undocumented people were transported to Epping Immigration Office for verification. ‘All other persons who illegally occupied the building were informed to vacate the premises with immediate effect,’ he said.

The occupiers were reportedly served with eviction notices from March 2023. A court order which was granted on 31 August 2023, stated: ‘The first to 265 respondents are ordered to vacate property situated at 44 to 48 Commercial Street, Cape Town, Western Cape by no later than December 31, 2023.’

The August court order was granted a few days after a fire in one of the buildings that was caused due to an electrical fault.

The court also said that if the occupiers do not vacate, then the sheriff and SAPS are authorised to remove the group with their belongings.

When we arrived on Wednesday, the occupiers — some standing with bags filled with their belongings — had been told to wait outside while officials went into the buildings to remove their belongings.

One of the occupiers, Pearl Myekeni, said she received an eviction notice in March.

Myekeni said they were told that the landlord to whom they were paying rent had apparently not been paying the owner of the building. The owner then terminated the contract. ‘We ended up collecting R26,000 from the tenants, each tenant contributed about R300. I didn’t participate so I was told that I can’t sleep here.’

She said slept at her boyfriend’s house on Wednesday night. Myekeni has been living in the building since September 2022.

She said she has had her belongings packed in boxes since December in anticipation of being evicted.

Another tenant, who did not want to give her name, claimed that ‘more than a thousand’ people were living in the buildings. ‘About four months ago after finding out that the landlords were not paying the owner of these buildings, we got rid of them and we haven’t been paying rent to anyone ever since then.’

Azubuike Kanu, who said he has lived in one of the buildings for more than five years, told GroundUp that he sent his wife and children to live in the Eastern Cape in December in anticipation of the eviction.

‘We were violently taken out of the building [on Wednesday]. We were transported in a truck to Langa Home Affairs to check whether we are here illegally or not. Some were arrested. They drove me to Mowbray and I had to find my own way back here,’ said Kanu.

Kanu spent the night outside on the pavement again on Thursday because he has nowhere else to go.

Cape Town lawyer Junaid Jamat told GroundUp that he is representing 120 of the occupants. ‘We were made aware of the issue last week Friday, but the occupants had no funds for the case to be handled.’ He said by the time the residents had collected funds on Tuesday, it was too late to oppose the eviction in the High Court.

‘Unfortunately, by Wednesday morning the Sheriff and the police were already there evicting the people, so we were too late,’ he said.

GroundUp contacted the Department of Home Affairs for additional information on the arrested immigrants on Wednesday afternoon. No comment was given by the time of publication.

For further information

Simon Dippenaar & Associates, Inc. is a law firm of specialist eviction lawyers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. We help landlords and tenants maintain healthy working relationships. Contact one of our eviction attorneys on 086 099 5146 or simon@sdlaw.co.za if you need help with tenants’ rights or landlords’ responsibilities.

Further reading:

Oct 17
0

Court showdown over Cape Flats evictions

By | Eviction news, Evictions, Homeless

“We are not here because we want to be here. We are here because we need homes.”

Reprinted from GroundUp, by Mary-Anne Gontsana – 2023-10-16

  • People living in about 110 informal structures and Wendy houses at Cathkin Village informal settlement in Heideveld are facing eviction.
  • They first moved onto the land earmarked for the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) in May 2018 due to the lack of affordable housing options in the community.
  • Their fate will be determined on 24 October when their eviction case is heard in court.

Hundreds of people living on land earmarked for the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) are heading to court later this month to fight their eviction.

There are about 110 informal structures and Wendy houses at the Cathkin Village informal settlement in Heideveld. It is home to hundreds of backyarders who occupied the vacant land in May 2018 due to the lack of affordable housing options in the community.

Residents like Faranaaz Fisher fear being evicted from the area where most of them have lived their whole lives. Fisher said she has been on the housing waiting list for more than 20 years and could no longer live in her mother’s cramped council flat with ten other relatives.

She said that life at the settlement hasn’t been easy because they don’t have basic services and gang violence in the surrounding area is rife.

“We lock this (entrance) gate at 7pm for safety purposes. Everyone here, especially the children, know that they need to be inside by then. We don’t allow nonsense. We try our best to keep this a safe environment from things like drugs and crime. We even have a neighbourhood watch,” she said.

Fisher said that because there was no electricity in the settlement, most residents used car batteries to power small appliances, rechargeable lights, and gas stoves for cooking. “It gets completely dark here at night because we don’t even have a mast light.”

Another resident, Farinaas Lakay, said they only have access to three taps and porta-potties. “The City of Cape Town failed us and has probably forgotten about us,” she said. “We are not here because we want to be here. We are here because we need homes.”

Cathkin Village is fenced off and has two entrance/exit gates. One of the entrances is situated on the side of a block of flats, which according to Lakay, has many shooting incidents.

According to Lakay, most of the residents in the settlement have been on the housing waiting list for decades.

On the eviction order, Lakay said: “We are fighting for houses. We want houses to be built on this land. Our children go to school here, our husbands have jobs here and everything is close by like public transport and clinics. More importantly, most of us are from Heideveld.”

WCED spokesperson Kerry Mauchline told GroundUp that the land was allocated to the department but it is under the custodianship of the Department of Infrastructure.

“The land is illegally invaded. Court action has been initiated to remove the illegal occupants so that the land can be used for education. An eviction order was issued against the illegal occupants. In terms of the eviction order, the City of Cape Town must find alternative accommodation for the occupants,” said Mauchline.

Mayco member for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien said: “The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate’s Informal Settlement provided three standpipes on a City-owned piece of land on the periphery of the informal settlement, and 109 portable flush toilets. Currently there are no further plans as the land where the informal settlement stands does not belong to the City.”

Junaid Jumat, the lawyer representing the Cathkin occupants, said: “An eviction order had been granted against the residents just before Covid lockdown, and there were dates for when the eviction should’ve taken place, but those dates have since lapsed.” The case has been enrolled again, said Jumat.

Jumat said they want the court to amend the order and change the eviction date.

The matter is expected to be heard in court on 24 October.

For further information

Simon Dippenaar & Associates, Inc. is a law firm of specialist eviction lawyers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. We help landlords and tenants maintain healthy working relationships. Contact one of our eviction attorneys on 086 099 5146 or simon@sdlaw.co.za if you need help with tenants’ rights or landlords’ responsibilities.

Further reading:

Feb 06
0

Land occupiers voice desperation over ‘threats and intimidation’

By | Eviction news, Homeless

Reprinted from iol.com, by Nomzamo Yuku – 2023-02-04

Cape Town – The Khoisan community claiming to be the original land owners of Knoflokskraal in Grabouw and Klutjieskraal in Wolseley, say government is pushing them beyond their limits with illegal evictions and threats.

They spoke following a reported attack by security members deployed at the Knoflokskraal, who allegedly ordered a resident to vacate his home after he attempted to expand his property, last month. They said the security team was accompanied by police officers and that after failing to give the residents a court order for the eviction, they allegedly destroyed the extended structure and told them they would be back to order them to leave their homes.

The two informal settlements were allegedly established two years ago when many say they lost their incomes and could not afford to pay rent anymore and invaded unoccupied land. The two pieces of land belong to the National Department of Public Works, and there have allegedly been illegal evictions ever since.

“We can’t live like this anymore. These people do as they please to us any time they want, threatening to destroy our homes. We fought this battle last year and just when we thought it is over they come again. If it wasn’t for the community I would be homeless. Our only defence was to demand the court order of which they couldn’t provide. We want the the municipality and the department of public works to stop this. We are not criminals, we can’t live in fear every day of our lives,” said Adnaan Backett, 58.

Patricia de Lille, Minister of the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure said: “The occupants were restricted from building new structures on the properties as per the Containment Order that is currently in place.”

Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie confirmed that police attended to the matter.

The incident angered the Khoisan community as the Klutjieskraal dwellers, who witnessed homes destroyed until January 28, recalled how the disabled and sick Christopher Steyn, 60 , was left homeless in December 2022, when structures were illegally destroyed without a court interdict. The community opened cases with police against the law enforcement security company, which they say, was in vain.

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard they attacked residents again in Knoflokskraal. Our case is not resolved yet, there’s been no feedback and my fear is that if they do it that side, they usually come for us too. The communities were started almost at the same time and it’s no secret that they’re being targeted. But where must we go if they don’t give us land. As sick and disabled as I am, I’ll defend my rights to be on this land if I have to. Our people, all over the country are victims but yet are not provided with basic needs, where must they live? Government must stop these evictions,“ Steyn said.

Pojie confirmed that Wolseley Police are investigating cases of malicious damage to property.

He said police are tasked with safeguarding the sheriff of the court and are not involved in the demolition of any structures, “nor the intimidation of such. The local authority usually appoints a company to execute the demolition of illegal structures as per court order or interdict.”

Meanwhile, Andy Wynard, community leader at the Knoflokskraal insettlement said authorities were quick to respond and attack people but disregard important issues such as service delivery. He said public works needed to grant permits to the municipalities to provide services instead of fighting them over the land.

“Give dignity to the people, don’t victimise them. Our youth is tired of this…We don’t want to protest or be violent,” he said.

“We can’t have this in our country, our soil and our inheritance,” concluded Yulanda Wakefield, the chairperson of the Klutjieskraal Core Group, saying in last month alone, about eight homes were demolished with the last incident on January 28.

De Lille said there was no eviction order against the said properties. She said the future of the property has not yet been determined since the lease with the department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment expired.

For further information

Simon Dippenaar & Associates, Inc. is a Cape Town law firm of specialist eviction lawyers, now operating in Johannesburg and Durban, helping both landlords and tenants with the eviction process. Contact one of our eviction attorneys on 086 099 5146 or simon@sdlaw.co.za if you are concerned about unlawful eviction or if you need advice on the eviction process.

Further reading: