High Court grants eviction order for city squatters

The Western Cape High Court has issued a final eviction order for several unlawfully occupied sites in the city including at the Strand Street quarry and Mill Street Bridge.

If necessary, the Sheriff of the Court may evict any remaining occupants after Tuesday July 30, said a statement from the City of Cape Town.

The order applies to unlawful occupation hotspots on Buitengracht Street, FW De Klerk Boulevard, Foregate Square, taxi queue and Foreshore, Helen Suzman Boulevard, Strand Street, Foreshore/N1, Virginia Avenue, and Mill Street Bridge.

The Atlantic Sun reported on the eviction of those squatting opposite Sea Point police station earlier this year (“‘Tent city’ eviction complete”, Atlantic Sun, February 28).

This month’s ruling includes a standing interdict against any subsequent unlawful occupation of these areas and other City-owned public spaces by the respondents named in the application.

The ruling comes after a lengthy court process since the initial granting of an order for eviction notices to be served in February 2023. The hearing of the matter was then delayed until October 2023 by an eleventh-hour notice to oppose filed by a Johannesburg-based NGO. Judgment was eventually handed down on Tuesday June 18.

However, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) says the case concerns the obligations of the City of Cape Town towards homeless people living in the inner city.

“Our clients had conceded at the outset that their occupation was unlawful, and so the main issues in the case concerned the provision of alternative accommodation and its adequacy. Their participation in this litigation meant that they could engage the City about their concerns, resulting in important concessions,” said a statement from SERI released by housing activists Ndifuni Ukwazi.

SERI says their next steps will be communicated in the next week once they have consulted with those affected.

The City said on Friday that it welcomed an application by the national Department of Public Works for the eviction of those squatting around the Castle of Good Hope in the city centre.

The statement said the City is spending over R220 million in the next three years to expand and operate its Safe Space transitional shelters beyond the current 770 beds across the CBD, Bellville, and Durbanville facilities.