Children shot as 1600 residents evicted in Cape Town

[Massimo A. Allamandola]

Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Tue, 2008-02-19 14:51. Western Cape
Anti-Eviction Campaign

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00221.htm

http://abahlali.org/node/3352

see also
http://abahlali.org/node/3351

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
URGENT NEWSFLASH!!
10:57am
Tuesday 19 February 2008

POLICE SHOOT THREE CHILDREN IN DELFT

Police proceed with unlawful eviction of 1600 residents in Delft, Cape Town

Police have started shooting people at close range in Delft. There is
pandemonium and brutality. Following yesterday’s ruling in the High
Court which uphold’s Thubelisha Homes and the state’s eviction order
against the community, the residents decided to appeal at the Supreme
Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. The lawyers worked through the night
doing the paperwork for this appeal.

Right now, Ashraf Cassiem, Anti-Eviction Campaign Legal Co-ordinator is
still finalising the paperwork for the case to go to the Supreme Court
of Appeal but the police decided to proceed with the evictions anyway.
All the Anti-Eviction Campaign co-ordinators have advised the police
that there is another legal case pending and they have no authority to
evict until the legal process is exhausted but they are doing it anyway.
This is unlawful.

Mncedisi Twalo of the Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign was making a
speech to the people of Delft urging them to sit down on the spot, and
the police suddenly opened fire on him and the Delft residents who were
directly in front of them – very close range.

20 residents have been injured and rushed to hospital, including the
three children.

There are an estimated 55 dogs on the scene. Peoples’ furniture is
almost totally destroyed with the police going out of their way to trash
it instead of removing it in an orderly fashion.

Police are now trying to drive all the residents off the site away from
their furniture and residents are trying to resist.

For comment from the scene call Ashraf Cassiem on 076 1861408 or Mzonke
Poni on 073 2562036 or Mncedisi Twalo on 078 5808646

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
19 February 2008
2:55am

Urgent Appeal

Delft, Cape Town - The Anti-Eviction Campaign is sending out this urgent
appeal to all concerned NGOs, members of the press, and caring citizens.

A few hours from now, hundreds of police, private mercenary security
forces and possibly the South African Army will move into Delft Symphony
to evict over 2,000 of Cape Town's poorest families. If the South
African government succeeds in evicting these residents, about 8,000
people will become homeless within a few hours. These families, with
absolutely nowhere to go, will be sleeping on the street as internal
refugees with no access to toilets, clean water, electricity, etc. Since
the South African government has no plans for alternative housing for
these families, this could easily become a humanitarian crisis with
children missing school and families becoming sick because of lack of
sanitation. Moreover, many of the residents are elderly and/or disabled
and will need immediate assistance as they are being thrown onto the
streets.

Therefore, the AEC is calling on anyone and everyone to come to Delft
first thing in the morning (as early as 6am) and support the residents.
We are calling on the South African Red Cross, the Mustadafin
Foundation, ZAKAH Fund, Gift of the Givers, Eye on the Child, UN High
Commission for Refugees, Foundation for Human Rights, Child Welfare
Society, Human Rights Foundation, South African Hospice Society,
Children's Resource Centre, the SPCA, the Public Protector, the Human
Rights Commission,to provide crucial humanitarian support for residents.
Children's NGOs are also welcome to provide support and solidarity
towards the 1000-2000 children who will be made homeless and traumatised
by police violence. Concerned press are invited to come help. and any
concerned Cape Townians are invited out to Delft Symphony to show their
solidarity and assist needy residents. AEC also invites the Independent
Complaints Directorate to monitor possible police brutality.

Finally, we are extending a warm invitation to Judge Deon van Zyl (who
refused to hear the appeal yesterday) to come see with his own eyes the
oppressive nature of his judgment.

Please visit our website for up-to-date developments on the situation in
Delft: www.westerncapeantieviction.wordpress.com

If you would like to donate to the AEC Fund for Appeal to the
Constitutional Court, please contact Ashraf Cassiem on 076 1861408. If
we are able to raise 50,000 Rand (10,000 has already been raised by the
community itself), we will be able to stop the evictions tomorrow.

For more information contact Ashraf Cassiem on the scene at 076 1861408,
or Mncedisi Twalo 078 5808646 or Pamela Beukes on 079 3709614 or Mzonke
Poni on 073 2562036

18:43pm
18 February 2008

Evictions Begin Despite Pending Appeal

There is a huge public meeting of the 1600 Delft residents who occupied
the new houses going on right now in Delft. The residents lost their
appeal at 4pm against an ANC government/Thubelisha Homes High Court
eviction order.

Although they are planning to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in
Bloemfontein and if that fails, the Constitutional Court, the police as
well as massive amounts of heavily armed private security and about 100
vicious dogs, have told the residents that they plan to carry out the
eviction order tonight, as soon as darkness falls.

The people there plan a peaceful resistance.

The Anti-Eviction Campaign condemns this cowardly act of evicting mainly
women and children and babies in the dead of night using vicious dogs.
We are very concerned about the high number of injuries that are likely
to occur from a night eviction under these circumstances, not to mention
the damage to peoples property.

We urge all concerned to rush to the scene!

** Please call Ashraf Cassiem on the scene on 076 1861408, or Mncedisi
Twalo 078 5808646 or Pamela Beukes on 079 3709614 or Mzonke Poni on 073
2562036 **

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
18 February 2008
4:10pm

Delft Residents Lose Appeal

CAPE TOWN - 1600 Delft residents, who occupied new houses last year
after the government failed to house them for 20 years or more, have
just lost their appeal against an eviction order in the Cape High Court.

The judge said there was no basis for the appeal, thereby supporting the
state's view that homeless people and backyarders and those who have
been on housing lists for decades, essentially have no practical right
to housing.

The residents have vowed not to stop the fight. They are now preparing
to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein and thereafter
will take their fight to the Constitutional Court.

.../ends

for comment call Ashraf Cassiem on 076 1861408

Monday 18th February 2008
4pm

Resistance to Evictions in Gugulethu

GUGULETHU - This Wednesday, 20th February 2008, at 12 noon, the
Anti-Eviction Campaign is going to take back the person who was evicted
in NY6.

She is the rightful owner of the house.

She was evicted by a member of the ANC who carried out the eviction in
the name of the ANC, thereby intimidating the rightful owner of the
house who has now called upon the Anti-Eviction Campaign for assistance.

We want the media to attend.

This is part of the Anti-Eviction Campaign's war on evictions in
Gugulethu. Another massive meeting of Gugulethu and all surrounding
areas took place last Sunday and will take place again this Sunday. The
Mayor failed to attend but the meeting resolved to march on the Cape
Town Civic Centre (Mayor's office) on Thursday 6th March 2008.

For more information contact Mnce on 078 808646

Please distribute widely:

TO ALL PROGRESSIVE ORGANISATIONS IN NZ AND AUSTRALIA

While not intending in any way to distract from the movement against
ongoing "terrorist" arrests in NZ, we're sending the following thread
from the past two days as an example of the rapidity that anti-social
and illegal governmental actions can move - against the fundamental
rights of the poorest citizens in South Africa!!

These folk also need all the immediate support they can get. Please send:

protest messages to the Mayor of Cape Town, Helen Zille:
mayor at capetown.gov.za

Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu:
mareldia at housing.gov.za

solidarity messages to:
wcantievictioncampaign at gmail.com
(copy messages back to CAP at my address please)

and consider financial contributions to the organised community in Delft.

For updates:
http://www.westerncapeantieviction.wordpress.com
or: wcantievictioncampaign at gmail.com

In solidarity
Jim Gladwin
for Citizens Against Privatisation
Auckland
New Zealand
-----------------------------

First Media Responses

** see first story – isn’t ‘crossfire’ when 2 sides are shooting? Only
one side was shooting in Delft **

The Argus 19/2/2008

Children caught in crossfire, say residents

February 19 2008 at 12:34PM

Delft residents resisting eviction were fired on by police with rubber
bullets and stun grenades on Tuesday morning.Scenes of chaos and
violence erupted as people tried to pull their belongings from removal
trucks.It is unclear how many were injured, but residents claimed that
some children who were caught in the crossfire were rushed to
hospital.Security teams moved into the area at 4.30am and began evicting
illegal occupants from their N2 Gateway houses after an application by
about 1 600 people were refused leave to appeal against their eviction
in the High Court on Monday A large crowd was gathering at a major
traffic intersection in the area and police were arriving in riot gear.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20080219122723501C931818

SAPA 19/2/2008

Police open fire in Delft

February 19 2008 at 12:03PM

Police have opened fire on people resisting eviction from newly built
homes at Delft on the Cape Flats, activists said on Tuesday morning.The
Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign said shortly before 11am that there
was "pandemonium" at the scene, and that 20 people were injured in the
shooting.Police spokesperson Superintendent Andre Traut said police had
been obliged to use "some sort of force" after the illegal occupants of
the houses became violent and threw stones at police and personnel of
the sheriff of the court."They prevented the sheriff of the court
personnel from executing the eviction order and on those ground the
police were necessitated to act," he said. A "small amount" of rubber
bullets and stun grenades were used.He had a preliminary tally of seven
people with minor injuries as a result of the shooting, all of whom were
treated on the scene by emergency services personnel.The campaign said
in a statement that private security guards and police moved on site
early on Tuesday morning to evict over 1 000 people who illegally
occupied the houses, meant for residents of an informal settlement being
cleared to make way for the government's flagship Gateway housing
project.This followed a Cape High Court judge's rejection on Monday
afternoon of an application by the occupants for leave to appeal against
an eviction order.The campaign said that following the Monday ruling,
the residents had decided to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal in
Bloemfontein.Lawyers had worked through the night doing the paperwork
for this."All the anti-eviction campaign co-ordinators have advised the
police that there is another legal case pending and they have no
authority to evict until the legal process is exhausted but they are
doing it anyway," the campaign said in a statement."This is unlawful....
Mncedisi Twalo of the Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign was making a
speech to the people of Delft urging them to sit down on the spot, and
the police suddenly opened fire on him and the Delft residents who were
directly in front of them."Twenty residents have been injured and rushed
to hospital, including... three children."Traut said the police were not
involved in the actual evictions, and were on the scene only to maintain
law and order. - Sapa
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20080219120203118C739732

News 24.com 19/2/2008

Court turns down Delft appeal

? 'I'm not going to move'

? Housing verdict sparks chaos

? Dwellers chant outside court

? Delft evictions halted

? Eviction for Gateway dwellers

Cape Town - The High Court has dismissed an application for leave to
appeal against an eviction order that compelled illegal occupiers of
unfinished homes in Delft on the Cape Flats to vacate their houses by
18:00 last Sunday.

The application for leave to appeal was filed at the High Court last
Friday, and had the effect of suspending the eviction process that had
been scheduled for last Sunday.

However, Monday's dismissal of the application reinstated the status of
the eviction order.

Grounds for the application for leave to appeal were that the court had
erred in treating the eviction application as urgent in the first
instance, and in making the provisional eviction order that was granted
a final one.

A third ground was that the scheduled eviction of about 1 600 people was
not just and equitable, and a fourth was that the court should instead
order mediation through the authorities and the illegal occupiers.

'Not in lawful occupation'

Judge Deon van Zyl ruled late on Monday that the grounds were altogether
without merit and that no other court would reach a conclusion different
to his.

In the course of argument, lawyers André Coetzee and William Booth,
acting for the illegal occupiers, contended that the process of
allocation of houses left much to be desired.

However, the judge said the process was totally irrelevant and that it
could not be raised as a defence for the illegal occupation of the
unfinished houses.

He said he had hoped to hear during the eviction proceedings the defence
that the occupants were in lawful occupation and could thus not be
evicted, but this had not been the case.

He said the fact that the allocation processes were not fair did not
entitle the unlawful occupiers to take the law into their own hands.

He said there would be anarchy in the country if this were allowed.

Coetzee said the reality was that eviction would leave people homeless,
but Judge Van Zyl responded: "If they were homeless before their
unlawful occupation, they will remain homeless. They chose to unlawfully
occupy homes that had not even been completed yet."

Earlier on Monday, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign said: "The
residents have vowed not to stop the fight.

"They are now preparing to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal in
Bloemfontein and, thereafter, will take their fight to the
Constitutional Court.

Have nowhere else to go

"The judge, the African National Congress government and Thubelisha
Homes are treating the residents of Delft as if they have alternative
accommodation.

"Yet, not one of them has any place to go. All of those who moved into
the new houses were either homeless or backyard dwellers."

Asked when evictions would get under way, Thubelisha general manager
Xhanti Sigcawu said he was expecting to hear from the sheriff before the
end of the day.

"We'll take our cue from the sheriff," he said.

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2272979,00.html

___________________________________________

SAPA 19/2/2008

Police cordon off delft area

February 19 2008 at 07:40AM

Heavily armed police and security officials have cordoned off with
barbed wire the area in Delft where the eviction of about 1 000 backyard
dwellers is set to go ahead on Tuesday, SABC news reported.

The Western Cape's anti-eviction campaign has appealed to Delft
residents not to resort to violence.

This follows the dismissal on Monday of backyard dwellers application
for leave to appeal an eviction order in the Cape High Court.

More than 1 000 backyard dwellers are illegally occupying housing units
which are part of the N2 gateway housing project.

A lawyer for the backyard dwellers William Booth said that they were
considering petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein
against the High Court ruling. - Sapa

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20080219072757742C486422

________________________________

News 24.com 18/2/008

'I'm not going to move'

18/02/2008 15:40 - (SA)

Beverley Jacobs sits in an illegally occupied house in Delft. (Ruvan
Boshoff, News24)

? Housing verdict sparks chaos

? Dwellers chant outside court

? Delft evictions halted

? Eviction for Gateway dwellers

? Slovo eviction bid dismissed

? Delft evictions photo essay

Verashni Pillay

Click here to watch News24's report on this issue.
Note: This report features sound.

Cape Town - After three years of watching government's N2 Gateway
housing project going up in Delft, more than 1 000 residents were
crushed when told the houses were intended for another community
altogether. Feeling they had little choice, these residents decided to
illegally occupy the houses last December.

Just on two months later, the Cape High Court granted an eviction order
forcing the "home invaders" to vacate the occupied premises.

It will be yet another move for mother-of-three Beverley Jacobs, 39, who
has never lived in one place for more than a year.

Angry and disappointed, the community made the anonymous houses their
own when Thubelisha Homes, the BEE company hired to build houses all
over the country, closed the building site for the December holidays.

And as the housing crisis appears to be seemingly insurmountable,
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu faces growing criticism, court
proceedings and one delay after another.

'Top-down approach'

In its 2004-5 report the Development Action Group, an NGO, wrote: "The
top-down approach in the N2 project undermines its overall
sustainability... The casual, continued and increasing practice of
excluding people from decision-making about development processes that
directly affect their lives is an obstacle that communities are unlikely
to tolerate for much longer."

It was an accurate prediction. The attempt to move thousands of people
around and clear away shack dwellings ran into massive problems when
none of those people had a say in their movements.

The use of force and lack of consultation invoked memories of the
apartheid government's forced removals in the 60s and 70s.

Their dissatisfaction was met with sympathy by DA councillor Frank
Martin - people chanted his name as they marched to Thubelisha's offices
last Thursday.

In his ruling, Judge Deon Van Zyl slammed the councillor for misleading
the community who were "wrongly advised by people who should have known
better".

False prophet

Itumeleng Kotsoane, DG of the Department of Housing, had the harshest
words, calling Martin (pictured left) a false prophet and a "would-be
politician struggling to build a career at the expense of the poor".

Yet, despite facing criminal charges, Martin has gathered a task team of
loyal community activists like Beverley around him.

"I am not moving," she announces adamantly. "If they demolish me I will
demolish this house."

Further along the N2, Mzwanele Zulu, 33, a Joe Slovo resident has been
waiting for eight years for housing.

The shack dwellers of Joe Slovo, in Langa, were expecting subsidised
government houses to be built on the site of the settlement.

But government's plans are to relocate, by force if necessary, residents
from Joe Slovo informal settlement into the housing project in Delft.

The relocation would effectively disrupt their livelihood, residents
believe. Joe Slovo is close to trains and within walking distance to
many of its residents' places of work.

The Development Action Group has found that 63% of people who were moved
from Joe Slovo to Delft in the past were either fired or retrenched
because they were often late or simply did not arrive for work because
of lack of transport.

Democracy by the rich

Mzwanele (pictured right), a former security guard who moved to Cape
Town from the Eastern Cape in 2000, recalls the forced removals of
District 6 when people of colour were forced out of Cape Town's CBD.

"Now under this democracy," he stops and laughs bitterly. "Or this
so-called democracy by the rich, people are being chased away again. Are
we not supposed to be living near the CBDs? Is it because we are black -
perhaps that is the reason why."

Martin Legassick, a history professor at the University of the Western
Cape, slammed the "high-handedness of Sisulu" in an article.

He called on her to meet with and listen to Joe Slovo residents as well
as Delft residents. "Then it will become clear to her that both
communities are united in their demands, and that they can suggest
answers to their problems."

But Sisulu has stood by her decisions.

She said Thubelisha has been instructed to help the residents move back
to their "previous places of accommodation" and to provide them with
transport and a temporary advice centre.

Meanwhile, Western Cape local government and housing minister, Richard
Dyantyi, said he would announce alternative arrangements for people
needing accommodation.

But the people of Delft insist on staying. "Whatever is going to happen
I'm not going to move," says Beverley. "I have nowhere to go."

Photos by Ruvan Boshoff

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2272737,00.html

________________________________

Cape Times 18/2/2008

Delft residents lose eviction appeal

February 19 2008 at 08:32AM

By Babalo Ndenze and Aziz Hartley

The 1 600 Delft residents - some heavily pregnant, others elderly - who
had illegally occupied N2 Gateway houses will on Tuesday morning begin
the task of finding other accommodation following Monday's Cape High
Court refusal to allow them leave to appeal against their eviction.

On Monday night the area had a big police presence, but no serious
incidents were reported. A few residents burnt tyres on the streets
before they held two community meetings where the residents were briefed
about the failed court bid.

Judge Deon van Zyl ruled their lawyers had more than enough opportunity
to raise the arguments listed in their appeal, and that the application
lodged last Friday was a deliberate attempt to delay eviction.

He found the lawyers' conduct "unprofessional in the extreme" and a
matter worth reporting to the Law Society.

On February 6, Van Zyl ruled that the families should vacate the houses
by 6pm last Sunday, but late on Friday, lawyers for the residents filed
an application to appeal his judgment.

Grounds for the appeal included the personal circumstances of the
families illegally occupying the houses, the manner in which the
government allocated houses built in Delft and that the court should
have ordered the opposing parties to seek mediation.

But Van Zyl would have none of it and dismissed the application with costs.

Residents will now have to put money together to take the matter to the
Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in about 90 hours, said the
Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign's Mncedisi Twalo.

"We're taking this thing to Bloemfontein," said Twalo.

He said the residents have been told to abide by the ruling and remove
all their belongings by Tuesday. "We don't want our people to get hurt
or killed," said Twalo. However some residents said they wouldn't move
without a fight.

On of them, a nine-month pregnant Museefa Abrahams said: "They
(Thubelisha) intend giving our houses to other people. I won't be moving."

The government and its housing agency, Thubelisha Homes, had first
approached the court last year after hundreds of backyard dwellers from
Delft and surrounding areas invaded houses still under construction.

DA ward councillor Frank Martin has been criminally charged with
inciting the invasion and was also under investigation by the city
council for his alleged role in the invasion.

Thubelisha director Xhanti Sigcawu said his company contemplated suing
Martin for about R20-million for damages caused to houses during the
December invasion.

Martin said he was concerned about the residents and that he would call
them to a meeting on Wednesday. He would deal with a damages claim if
the matter went to court.

"I'm not scared of Thubelisha or Xhanti Sigcawu. It will be interesting
to see what they sue me for. I will look forward to that challenge,"
Martin said.

aziz.hartley at inl.co.za

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20080219042850855C977555

________________________________

SABC News 18/2/2008

Delft dwellers move out

Delft residents move out of their illegally occupied homes today

Residents are upset and say they have no alternative accommodation

February 19, 2008, 08:15

Backyard dwellers from Delft on the Cape Flats, who have been illegally
occupying incomplete houses, have started moving out of the units. The
area is being guarded by armed police who have cordoned off the area
with barbed wire.

The Anti-Eviction Campaign has appealed to the dwellers not to resort to
violence whilst they are being moved out and their belongings loaded
onto trucks.

Residents are upset and say they have no alternative accommodation. They
say they do not even know where the police are taking their possessions.

Yesterday the Cape High Court dismissed an application to appeal an
eviction order granted to Thubelisha Homes a few weeks ago.

The incomplete houses form part of the N2 Gateway housing project.

Click here to send this article to a friend Click here for a printable
version of this article Spokesperson for the provincial housing ministry
Vusi Tshose Residents say they have no other place to go

http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/the_parties/0,2172,164310,00.html

________________________________

SABC News 17/2/2008

Govt to provide accommodation to Delft residents

February 17, 2008, 07:30

The Western Cape Local Government and Housing Minister, Richard Dyantyi,
says he will announce alternative arrangements for people needing
accommodation as soon as figures are available from Delft.

Dyantyi was speaking at a meeting called to discuss the pending eviction
of more than 1 000 dwellers who illegally occupied housing units in
Delft in December.

The Cape High Court last week took a decision to grant state property
developer, Thubelisha Homes, an eviction order against the illegal
occupiers.

The dwellers filed their application papers for leave to appeal the Cape
High Court's decision on Friday. The matter is expected to be heard some
time in the coming week.

http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/the_parties/0,2172,164310,00.html

________________________________

SAPA 19/2/2008

Police cordon off delft area

February 19 2008 at 07:40AM

Heavily armed police and security officials have cordoned off with
barbed wire the area in Delft where the eviction of about 1 000 backyard
dwellers is set to go ahead on Tuesday, SABC news reported.

The Western Cape's anti-eviction campaign has appealed to Delft
residents not to resort to violence.

This follows the dismissal on Monday of backyard dwellers application
for leave to appeal an eviction order in the Cape High Court.

More than 1 000 backyard dwellers are illegally occupying housing units
which are part of the N2 gateway housing project.

A lawyer for the backyard dwellers William Booth said that they were
considering petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein
against the High Court ruling. - Sapa

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20080219072757742C486422

________________________________

SABC News 18/2/2008

Delft lawyers mull Supreme Court petition

February 18, 2008, 22:30

Thubelisha Homes, which manages the N2 Gateway Housing Project outside
Cape Town, has welcomed a ruling by the Cape High Court rejecting an
appeal by squatters to stay on in illegally occupied houses.

Spokesperson Prince Xhanti Sigcawu says it is now up to the court
sheriff to execute the court order.

Judge Deon van Zyl ruled that the reasons for the application to appeal
had no merit. Sigcawu has welcomed the ruling.

Lawyers representing the dwellers are considering petitioning the
Supreme Court of Appeal. Instructing attorney William Booth says they
will discuss that route with their clients. Booth, however, says he
still believes that mediation is an alternative means to evictions.

“… The whole allocation process is problematic and that needs to be
addressed, even if people are evicted, they have no alternative
housing...” says Booth.

Meanwhile, hundreds of the backyard dwellers - who are illegally
occupying the housing units in Delft - have gathered in an open field in
the area to discuss a way forward ahead of their eviction tomorrow
morning. The group argues that they have been discriminated against in
the process of the allocation of houses.

Police have been deployed in the area to keep a watchful eye in case of
any eventuality.

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/crime1justice/0,2172,164392,00.html

_____________________________

SABC News 17/2/2008

Cape residents to hold rally against eviction

Yesterday’s meeting in Delft

Pandemonium erupted at another meeting yesterday in Delft attended by
Western Cape Housing Minister

February 17, 2008, 12:45

Tensions are expected to run high at an Anti-Eviction Campaign rally in
Gugulethu on the Cape Flats this afternoon. The AEC says they are
expecting Cape Town Mayor, Helen Zille, to address them on pending
evictions in Gugulethu, Nyanga and Mandela Park.

However, Zille's spokesperson, Robert MacDonald, says she will not be
attending the gathering. MacDonald says Zille was only informed about
the rally on Thursday. He says she will be at an anti-drug march in
Macassar near Somerset West later this afternoon.

"The anti eviction campaign can send questions to the office of the
mayor....she will then respond or get a relevant official to answer the
questions, but today she will not be able to attend as she already
committed to other events."

Yesterday, pandemonium erupted at another meeting in Delft where Western
Cape Housing Minister Richard Dyantyi met with backyard dwellers,
illegally occupying housing units in the area.

The dwellers disrupted the meeting because their ward councillor Frank
Martin was not present. They demanded that he address them but he was
not allowed to do so. Martin then stormed out of the gathering and some
of the dwellers followed him. Dyantyi continued with the meeting.

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,164327,00.html

_____________________________

SABC News 17/2/2008

Court rules against Delft squatters

Police in Delft

Cape High Court rejects appeal by Delft squatters to stay on in
illegally occupied houses

February 19, 2008, 05:45

Thubelisha Homes, which manages the N2 Gateway Housing Project outside
Cape Town, has welcomed a ruling by the Cape High Court rejecting an
appeal by Delft squatters to stay on in illegally occupied houses.

Early this month, Judge Deon van Zyl ordered the occupants to leave by
the evening of the 17th of February. Legal representation for the
community filed for leave to appeal at the last minute on Friday.

Yesterday, judge van Zyl dismissed the request saying it had no merit.
Thubelisha spokesperson Prince Xhanti Sigcawu says it is now up to the
court sheriff to execute the court order.

Lawyers representing the dwellers are considering approaching the
Supreme Court of Appeal. The illegal residents say they will not leave
because they have been waiting for houses for years.

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version of this article Report on High Court ruling on Delft squatters
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