In the middle of Cape Town’s worsening housing crisis, the City has brought an application to the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court to evict an entire community of more than 20 people from the site of the former South African Circus School [1]. The municipality, who are the owners of the building, refuses to maintain the property they own – leaving the tenants who pay rents (up to R2400 per month for a single room!) to live dirty, unhealthy conditions with no flushing toilets, no showers, broken windows, bad security and filled with pests.
Instead, the City of Cape Town has chosen to use health and safety regulations and zoning bylaws [2] to make more than 2 dozen tenants homeless – including women, those living with mental health disorders and unemployed migrants.
The City of Cape Town has made it no secret that it want to use R200 million on the publicly-owned land to develop sport and recreational facilities [3] for wealthy residents at the expense of the most vulnerable!
But if we act now we can stop the callous city officials! Together, we can put pressure on the City of Cape Town to withdraw the eviction application, engage meaningfully with the community - in particular those facing imminent eviction - and guarantee that the tenants have alternative accommodation if the court grants the eviction application on the 29th of January 2020.
Add your name to the petition! There can be no evictions amid a housing crisis!
Sources:
[1] HENDRICKS, ASHRAF; GROUNDUP
‘City of Cape Town moves to evict occupiers of old circus school’, 12 December 2019
https://www.groundup.org.za/article/well-end-streets-says-obs-circus-occupier/
[2] FORD, WESLEY; SOUTHERN SUBURBS TATLER
‘Tenants face evictions’, 22 June 2018
https://www.southernsuburbstatler.co.za/news/tenants-face-evictions-15601695
[3] JONES, AIDEN; NEWS24
‘Anger over 10 000-seater stadium for Observatory’, 12 April 2018
https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/anger-over-10-000-seater-stadium-for-observatory-20180412
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