60 000 informal settlement occupiers resist eviction in the High Court

7 February 2017

The 60 000 occupiers of the Marikana informal settlement will ask the court to consider the expropriation of the land on which they live to avoid their relocation

SERI will be appearing in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town tomorrow, representing the approximately 60 000 occupiers of the Marikana informal settlement, located in Phillipi on the Cape Flats.

The owners of the land at the settlement seek either the eviction of the occupiers or an order directing the state to purchase their land at market value, calculated as if it were unoccupied. The occupiers currently live under abject conditions because the City will not provide adequate essential services, such as waste disposal, sanitation and electricity on land that it does not own.

The occupiers will argue that there is no humane and dignified manner in which a settlement of this size can be evicted or relocated. They will ask the Western Cape High Court to grant an order requiring the City to consider the  expropriation  of  the  land, and the   provision   of basic shelter and services on it.

The hearing begins tomorrow and will continue until 14 February 2017.

Read more about the case here.

Issued by Nomzamo Zondo, SERI director of litigation, 7 February 2017