Cape Town - The Willow Arts Collective (WAC) supported by the Ndifuna Ukwazi advocacy group protested as they challenged their eviction from a space close to Hartleyvale Stadium in the Cape Town Regional Court.
The space they currently occupy is owned by the City of Cape Town.
In March 2023, in supporting the WAC community, Ndifuna Ukwazi undertook various methods to reach landowners across Cape Town for space for the 25 WAC community members to erect the emergency shelters with the kits offered by the City.
“The post was boosted with paid advertising to reach neighbourhoods around Observatory. The post reached just over 10 000 people but no offers of assistance were received.”
The matter was heard before magistrate Reaz Khan in the Cape Town Regional Court where occupiers filled the courtroom, anxiously reliving the trauma of being forcibly removed from a place they consider home.
One occupier shouted “No!” during proceedings as Dr Jonty Cogger argued before the magistrate.
Cogger, representing the 20 respondents, said what the City was doing was “unconstitutional”.
Cogger explained that some of the respondents, specifically those who were unemployed and did not have any source of income, have rejected being moved to places such as Kampies, because they consider it “uninhabitable”, and Mfuleni due to xenophobic attitudes. Another alternative, “Culemborg”, was described as “more like a prison setting”.
On Thursday, Bongani Mhlangu, 30, said outside court: “Their prime focus has been evicting us. The City is using the fact that they were it was unaware that we were living there at the time as a reason to proceed with this eviction.”
When asked about what he hoped could be achieved, he said: “I’m not really sure how to define winning in this situation, it was never my plan to exist there for very long but in the grander scheme of things there are no varying degrees of homelessness.
“To people who are more homeless than others, it’s inhumane … The fact that a large majority of our people are in fact foreign nationals, it would not play well for them if they were to live in an informal settlement.”
During submissions made in court, the group’s attorney said: “The date for the eviction should be suspended until the City has provided suitable emergency housing as close as possible to where they reside.”
Yesterday, City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said the City cannot comment or speculate on a possible outcome.
“The outcome of the matter lies solely in the hands of the Judiciary.”