Occupants of old circus school in talks with City of Cape Town to purchase or lease land

A group of roughly 30 people living illegally at an abandoned circus school in Observatory, Cape Town are petitioning the City of Cape Town, who owns the property, to buy or lease the land.

The previous lease holder Dimitri Slaverse was the founder of the South African National Circus School. He illegally sub-let the property to people on a per night basis.

Slaverse’s lease was terminated in 2015, and since then the property has been illegally occupied by the group, who call themselves the Willow Arts Collective (WAC). They are currently working to register themselves as a non-profit organisation (NPO).

“Right now, the fight seems as if we are David against Goliath… with the NPO we’re trying to engage with the City of Cape Town in a civil way. The only way they can assist us is when we’re fully a registered organisation,” said Shayne Taliona, an artist who’s been living on the property since 2018.

The property is currently zoned as a public open space and the City intends to develop the land for “sporting purposes”, according to a statement dated 12 August 2020.

The City has offered the occupants alternative accommodation in Kampies, Philippi, but the residents of the Willow Arts Collective aren’t interested in being relocated. They have cultivated the field in front of what was once the circus clubhouse and are growing their own food.

“There is nothing I can do there because I can’t even do farming or gardening or anything there because the land is not conducive for that. It’s concrete everywhere,” Taliona said.

The WAC have put forward a concept note detailing their plans to develop their project into a community eco-farm and recreation centre. A local community organisation called the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) have embraced the opportunity to open a dialogue.

In a letter written by the chair of the OCA, Leslie London, it said: “The project has the potential to be an enterprise that enhances the unique social character of Observatory as a diverse, inclusive, tolerant community that engages constructively with people who, although socially marginalised, are part of our community.”

A judgment in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on 15 September instructed both parties – the WAC and their lawyer and the City of Cape Town – to engage “meaningfully”, face to face, before using a mediator, according to Tim Dunn, the lawyer representing WAC.

“There’s no reason why it shouldn’t work. This isn’t a hostile community, this is a community of artists living sustainably off the land. Not only are they growing their own food for themselves but they’re growing food for the broader Observatory community.

“So this isn’t your typical land invasion. It is a participation and really the City of Cape Town officials need to come see it for themselves, get involved and if that can’t work and then obviously the next step is mediation,” he said.

Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, councillor Zahid Badroodien, said the City supported the recent judgment and efforts had been made since 2017 to engage with the occupants on site.

“We have proposed services for a mediator, which they rejected. In keeping with the instructions from the court for meaningful engagement, it doesn’t say there shouldn’t be a mediator,” Badroodien said.

He said a mediator was necessary to create a space that was “free and fair for all”.

However, according to Dunn, the first engagement must be without a mediator and if the primary engagement failed, only then can a mediator be introduced. He referred to the recent judgment as a “small victory”.

“The court was clear on this, as this is what my clients wanted,” he said.

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