Housing

Khayelitsha eviction case postponed

Residents of Newcastle informal settlement in Khayelitsha may have to wait another month to challenge the City of Cape Town over their eviction order.

Barbara Maregele

Brief | 26 August 2015

Court victory vindicates shack dwellers’ rights

A recent judgment in the Durban High Court has confirmed what shack dwellers, urban land occupiers and their lawyers have known for some time – the state’s habitual use of legal loopholes to evict land occupiers from their homes is unconstitutional. What’s more, Judge Mokgohla’s decision has finally showed up the courts as sharing responsibility for allowing these evictions to go on unchecked.

Daneel Knoetze

Analysis | 26 August 2015

No better than sleeping under a tree for 20 years, says ailing woman

Fifty-six-year-old Fikile Mlotshwa (not her real name) from Imbali in Pietermaritzburg has had to bear the winter cold and summer rains in a leaking mud house for over 20 years. She tested HIV positive 10 years ago and she is on ARV medication.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 24 August 2015

Khayelitsha residents challenge eviction in court

Lawyers representing residents of Newcastle informal settlement in Khayelitsha are to challenge the City of Cape Town's compliance with eviction orders in court on Wednesday, 26 August.

Barbara Maregele

News | 24 August 2015

No room for the homeless

Non-profit organisations in Cape Town say they are doing their best to assist homeless people living on the streets of the city, but there are simply not enough shelters or beds. The City’s street people enumeration project counted 7,383 homeless, of whom 2,521 were sleeping in shelters.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 20 August 2015

Scam exposes township title deed confusion

A housing dispute in Mfuleni demonstrates how the informal process of transferring title deeds for RDP houses can lead to people losing their money and their homes.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and Siphesihle Matyila

News | 18 August 2015

When temporary housing isn’t temporary

“They promised us that we would stay for a short period of time. They didn’t keep their promise,” says Amelia Nono, who came to Intersite, a temporary relocation area (TRA) in Langa, nine years ago.

Ashleigh Furlong

Feature | 18 August 2015

Shacks demolished following miscommunication

About 20 Mfuleni residents were forced to demolish their shacks that they had erected after occupying open land in the township.

Mary-Anne Gontsana and Masixole Feni

Brief | 18 August 2015

Monwabisi Park residents lay charges against city law enforcement

On Friday, a number of community members from Monwabisi Park informal settlement laid a charge of malicious damage to property against City of Cape Town law enforcement after shacks were destroyed by the Anti-Land Invasion Unit (ALIU) last Wednesday.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 17 August 2015