Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says she is concerned that the City of Cape Town did not adhere to the stipulated regulations when it evicted people during the national lockdown. She has welcomed the ruling of the High Court in Cape Town, which suspended the evictions.
Rights group, the Legal Resources Centre, this week took the city authorities to court following the Easter weekend evictions and dismantling of informal housing structures in Mpolweni in Khayelitsha. The court declared the City of Cape Town’s move illegal.
The city has been ordered to return all the building material of the dwellers by midday on Monday. The residents will now be allowed to return to the land and re-erect their dwellings.
Sisulu says she is happy that justice has been served.
“I’m very happy because I do not understand why it is that national regulations are not followed. We passed national regulations some time back saying that there shall be no evictions of people. I’ve been following this case for some time and getting conflicting reports about exactly what is going on but of course it was of concern to everybody, it’s of concern to me as a Minister of Human Settlements that people should be evicted in the middle of a lockdown.”
In the video below, City of Cape Town acts against the occupation of vacant land in Khayelitsha:
The City of Cape Town has maintained that it has been acting in accordance with a court order aimed at protecting city-owned land.
