Image for illustrative purposes. Picture: X / @RothSafaris
While the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements welcomed the eviction of the illegal occupants in Cape Town on Monday, he expressed concern about the inequality in the city.
Last week, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) evicted informal dwellers outside the Castle of Good Hope in Western Cape with help from various authorities.
“We remain worried by the continued inequality in our cities, which forces the poor and marginalised to spend inordinate resources on transport to areas of economic activity,” chairperson Nocks Seabi said.
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According to the CoCT, the eviction was orderly and well-coordinated between authorities.
The city’s Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the unlawful occupation began during the national lockdown in 2020.
“We are relieved it has come to an end, not only because of the Castle’s tourism and economic importance but also for the sake of the unlawful occupant,” he said.
The city further offered transitional shelter at the City’s Safe Spaces and night shelters run by non-governmental organisations for the affected people.
“City social development professionals assisted the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPW) by documenting the personal circumstances of each of the unlawful occupants via on-site interviews,” it said.
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Furthermore, in August, the city completed all processes related to the final eviction order obtained for various unlawful occupation sites in Cape Town.
“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,” it said.
Seabi further argued that long-term solutions should be found to have integrated communities closer to work and places with high economic activity.
“We have long heard of plans to increase housing opportunities in cities, yet we have not seen tangible results. Our people deserve the dignity of quality housing opportunities as promised by the Constitution,” he said.
According to Hill-Lewis accepting social assistance to get off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health, and well-being.
“No person has the right to reserve a public space as exclusively theirs, while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and social assistance,” he said.
The city plans to expand the Safe Space dignified transitional shelter.
It said that it will spend over R220 million 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 currently 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. A further facility is on the cards for Muizenberg, with plans for more around the metro.”
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Annually, the city helps around 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 reintegration, 1 124 referrals to social services, and over 880 short-term contractual job opportunities via the Expanded Public Works Programme.”
“We are grateful to Minister Dean Macpherson for showing leadership and getting his department to act as the land custodian for the Castle precinct,” concluded Hill-Lewis.
NOW READ: Inside the eviction of Castle of Good Hope’s illegal dwellers [VIDEO]
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