City notes decision on Khayelitsha illegal land invasion  

19 April 2020 

The Western Cape Town High Court’s decision on the Khayelitsha illegal land invasion is noted. According to the Judge, the City was entitled to protect its land. He has made an interim ruling on humanitarian grounds and without considering the merits of the application and has allowed 49 occupiers to re-erect structures. The merits of the application will be decided after the lockdown ends. The City is allowed to remove any new illegally erected structures with immediate effect. Land invasions are illegal. The Judge acknowledged this aspect and emphatically denounced land grabs.

Facts are simple

This was not an eviction. The images embedded here shows the land was unoccupied and no one was living there contrary to the misinformation that is being spread. On 4 April 2020, one structure (occupied). On 8 April 2020, illegally erected structures and the land on 13 April 2020 (image on the far right). 

The land is earmarked for the expansion of basic services infrastructure. If it is lost, the City will not be able to cater to the increased demand. The City does not have the capacity to deal with more settlements created due to illegal land invasion, particularly as it rolls out its COVID-19 response in informal settlements.

The City reiterates:

- In Khayelitsha, the City removed illegally erected unoccupied structures in accordance with an interdict that prohibits further and attempted invasion on the site in question. This was not an eviction in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Evictions Act.

- As per a City affidavit, the photographs produced on 16 April 2020 depicting people sleeping outside for days or what suits the manipulation of the situation, were refuted as the City and its contractor secured the site until 22:00 on the previous evening and there was no one sleeping on the site, save for a couple of people standing around on the site. So it is clearly a setup of imagery to distort the facts and to drive a particular agenda.

- There’s been a rapid increase in attempted illegal occupations during the national COVID-19 crisis.

- The National Disaster Declaration, unlike what is being reported does not place a moratorium on the removal of unoccupied structures.

Issued by Media Office, City of Cape Town, 19 April 2020