[Onthebarricades] SOUTH AFRICA: Three reports on Western Cape anti-eviction struggle

[Andy]

Press Alert
Sunday 23 December 2007
9pm

DELFT, CAPE TOWN - A major clash looks likely to take place tomorrow (Monday 24th December 2007) from early in the morning in Delft, Cape Town.

Today, Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Housing, gave the instruction to Thubelisha Homes and the SA Police to decisively remove all 1000 people who have occupied the 500 newly built BNG houses in Delft.

Shortly after she gave this instruction, four truckloads of soldiers stationed themselves at Delft police station. 

We must point out that this looming eviction will be completely illegal. There is absolutely no eviction order from the court that would authorise the government to evict these residents.

This also shows that the new Zuma led ANC is no better than the Mbeki led ANC, since the new ANC National Executive Committee has done nothing to try and resolve this situation. Once again, it is a case of unleashing huge amounts of police and soldiers to brutalise people who are out of sight of the public. 

However, tomorrow's police brutality will not go unnoticed. The community has appealed for support from other communities tomorrow morning and many people will attend.

They will also be holding a demonstration outside the Bellville Magistrates Court where three Delft activists will appear having been arrested last week for occupying the houses.

The people of Delft have been promised houses for almost 14 years by the ANC government and by every different municipal government in Cape Town and they have every right to take over those houses which are standing empty. Like other communities in SA, Delft is in a crisis. It is extremely overcrowded and people are desperate for housing. The government has made a very foolish blunder by proposing to leave the homeless of Delft in their backyards and forcibly remove the people of Joe Slovo to Delft, where they do not want to go. 

.../ends

For more info call:

Ashraf Cassiem - 076 186 1408
Mzonke Poni - 073 2562036
Martin Legassick - 083 4176837

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release
24th December 2007
5pm

In a major victory for about 1000 backyard dwellers and the homeless residents of Delft, the Cape High Court granted an interim order at 5pm today (21/12/2007) interdicting anyone from evicting or threatening to evict those residents who occupied the newly built houses in Delft last week. 

The ruling temporarily suspends the eviction order of 30th October 2006 that the police, for the past week, have been using to threaten, intimidate and evict the residents.

The residents will appear in court again on the 3rd of January 2008 to hear the judge's final ruling.

The state, including Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Housing (who yesterday instructed the police to "clear out" the residents); Thubelisha Homes; and any associated company or individual are now totally forbidden from threatening or trying to evict the residents. 

In addition, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign is delighted that the same judge denied Thubelisha Homes application for a new eviction order.

Although this is a short term victory, it is a very positive ruling in the sense that:

1. It clearly prevents the DA and ANC from choosing to act unlawfully by simply unleashing huge amounts of police and private security on poor and vulnerable communities to evict them, whereas they know very well that they are supposed to seek a High Court eviction order. 

2. It shows that organised communities are clearly against the ludicrous ANC/DA forced removal plan (which goes by the name of N2 Gateway project) and that they are not going to stop resisting it, and hence the ANC/DA must shelve this plan and consult with communities towards a real solution that provides houses for all (and not some cosmetic solution that sees a couple of expensive showhouses built along the highway while everyone else gets dumped in the sand in the back of Delft, out of sight). 

3. It shows that communities are not going to be deterred from using the High Court by the high cost of overpriced advocates - in this case four anti-eviction campaign working class activists worked through the nights for the whole weekend collecting over 800 affidavits to bring an interim interdict against the state, and presenting the case to the Judge. 

The police may now face a damages claim since they were informed by the Anti-Eviction Campaign this afternoon that they must hold off on evicting people, since the matter was being heard in the High Court. The police, however, refused and in fact broke the law by breaking into the houses and removing peoples' furniture, which was damaged. 

.../ends

For comment please call Ashraf Cassiem, Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign paralegal on 076 1861408 or Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign activists Mzonke Poni on 073 2562036 or Mncedisi Twala on 078 5808646 or Pamela Beukes on 079 3709614. 

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Statement
Thursday January 10th 2007
3pm

CAPE TOWN - The High Court case involving the over 1000 Delft homeless and backyard residents who occupied the "Breaking New Ground" houses in Delft a few weeks back, has been postponed from tomorrow (11 January) to next Tuesday 15th January 2008. 

The ANC MEC for Housing, Richard Dyantyi, Thubelisha Homes, Seakay Construction plus two other companies today served an urgent application to evict the residents from the houses. They were supposed to have served the application last Friday, according to a court order. 

The residents who occupied the houses have all been on the housing Waiting List for up to 20 years and have been promised houses at each and every election by all the political parties but these parties have never delivered on their promises. 

Ashraf Cassiem, Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign Legal Co-ordinator, is representing the residents because they do not have money for an Advocate.

According to Cassiem, "Again the companies and the government have disregarded the court order which said that last Friday they were supposed to serve the application. The court order also stipulated that we should have had a chance to respond by yesterday and the matter should be heard tomorrow but the companies and government failed to comply". 

Cassiem says that this is the second time the Housing Department, Thubelisha Homes and the other three companies have acted unlawfully. "The last time they used an unlawful 2006 order to evict residents and the court did not even chastise them but only set the order aside. They should be punished according to section 8 of the Prevention of Illegal Evictions Act which makes it a criminal offence to use unlawful orders to evict people. Now we want to know what the court is going to do about them taking their own liberties and why they are untouchable. However we are also happy that people are going to get the chance to say why they should not be evicted." 

The Anti-Eviction Campaign and Delft community are having a mass meeting at 7pm tonight to discuss the latest development and we will be ready by Tuesday 15th January to oppose the application" said Cassiem.

.../ends

For comment call: Ashraf Cassiem on 076 1861408; Pamela Beukes on 079 3709614; Mncedisi Twala on 078 5808646; or Mzonke Poni on 073 2562036 - all of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
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