Reprinted from TimesLive, by Timna Mgunculu – 2024-09-29

City of Cape Town has to offer alternative accommodation in the form of ‘safe spaces’

The department of public works (DPW) has obtained a court order to evict residents of a shantytown that sprang up around the Castle of Good Hope.

The department approached the high court in Cape Town on Tuesday asking for an order compelling the residents to leave the historic precinct by October 17.

According to the order, the City of Cape Town has to offer the residents “alternative accommodation” in the form of “safe spaces”. The shantytown residents “who take up the alternative accommodation at a City Safe Space shall be entitled to an initial six-month stay, which shall be extended until they have acquired alternative accommodation”.

This is “subject to such individuals engaging with the city and co-operating in meeting their respective Personal Development Plans”.

Should the residents not vacate the area by the cut-off date and not take up accommodation offered by the city, the sheriff, assisted by the police, will “eject” them. Their structures will also be demolished.

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis welcomed the development, saying the situation had been a “concern”.

He said the city’s social development professionals had helped the department in documenting “the personal circumstances of each of the unlawful occupants via on-site interviews”.

Hill-Lewis said offers of “transitional shelter at City Safe Spaces and NGO-run night shelters have been made” and remain available.

“I warmly welcome the court granting an eviction order to the national DPW as the land custodian for the Castle precinct,” said Hill-Lewis. “This site has long been a source of public concern and complaint — as well as a source of frequent incidents of crime and general grime.

“The city has been pushing for more than two years for the owner of the site to take responsibility for it. We are grateful to the new minister for showing leadership and getting his department to act.

“The unlawful occupation began during the national lockdown, and the city has long been advocating for a resolution not only because of the Castle’s tourism and economic importance but also for the sake of the unlawful occupants. Accepting social assistance to get off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health and wellbeing.”

He said no-one had the right to reserve a public space as exclusively theirs while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and social assistance.

Hill-Lewis said the city last month completed all processes related to the final eviction order obtained for various unlawful occupation sites in the CBD along Buitengracht Street, FW de Klerk Boulevard, Foregate Square, the taxi rank and Foreshore, Helen Suzman Boulevard, Strand Street, Foreshore/N1, Virginia Avenue and Mill Street Bridge.

“Earlier this year, the high court further granted the city two similar eviction orders in recent months for central Cape Town, at the Green Point tennis courts in the vicinity of the Nelson Mandela Boulevard intersection with Hertzog Boulevard, Old Marine Drive and Christiaan Barnard Bridge,” said Hill-Lewis.

Hill-Lewis said the city would spend more than R220m in the next three years to expand and operate its Safe Space transitional shelters beyond the current 1,070 beds across the CBD, Bellville and Durbanville facilities.

“The city now operates two Safe Spaces at Culemborg in the east CBD, which offer 510 shelter beds across the facilities, with a new 300-bed Safe Space in Green Point opened in July 2024,” he said.

“A further facility is on the cards for Muizenberg, with plans for more around the metro. The city further runs the Matrix substance abuse treatment programme, with an 83% success rate for clients, addressing a key driver of why people end up on the streets.

“Annually the city helps about 3,500 individuals with shelter placement or referrals to an array of social services. In 22/23, this amounted to 2,246 shelter placements, 112 family reunifications and reintegrations, 1,124 referrals to social services, and more than 880 short-term contractual job opportunities via the expanded public works programme.”

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:

• City of Cape Town says Belhar families facing eviction won’t be homeless

• Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis seeks eviction of occupants blocking City drains

• Prasa ordered to rebuild demolished structures