The City of Cape Town has delivered material to 49 households who illegally occupied a piece of land in Khayelitsha so as to adhere to the interim court order for temporary relief to these illegal occupiers during the remainder of the COVID-19 crisis. The court will assess the merits of the case after the lockdown ends.
The Judge emphasised the City is entitled to protect its land against land invasion and is allowed to remove any new illegally erected structures with immediate effect. The court ruled in its interim order that there was no breach of any regulations by the City.
People were not living on the land, contrary to misinformation
These photos clearly show the land (circled in red below) was not occupied and no one was living there contrary to false claims of some of the illegal occupiers having lived there for months. There were thus no evictions and the City operated in terms of an existing interdict to prevent the illegal occupation of the land in question.
- On 4 April 2020, one structure (occupied); on 8 April 2020, illegally erected structures and the land on 13 April 2020 (image on the far right) structures removed. (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m77irpbon0gi99h/AABvbdqcu0-cnohhiM13yzeha?dl=0)
The land is earmarked for the expansion of basic services infrastructure. If it is lost, the City will not be able to cater to the increased basic services demand. The City does not have the capacity to deal with more unplanned settlements created due to illegal land invasion, particularly as it is rolling out its COVID-19 response in informal settlements.
The National Government lockdown regulations prohibit ‘evictions’ during the COVID-19 lockdown. The City’s action on the site in question is not in terms of eviction as defined by the national laws. It is in accordance with an interdict to prevent attempted illegal occupations and within its remedy of counter-spoliation. The City did not act contrary to the lockdown regulations or the national law, as confirmed in the interim court order.
There’s been a rapid increase in attempted illegal occupations during the national COVID-19 crisis across the metro.
Attempted new invasions on this piece of City-owned land in Khayelitsha in particular continues and the conditions of the interim order are being ignored.
The City notes the tents that have been delivered as per National Government’s instruction. The court asked the City to provide material and no other material is to be allowed on site.