City demolishes 30 shacks in Mfuleni
CITY law enforcement officials demolished more than 30 shacks at Bardale informal settlement in Mfuleni yesterday.
This came while there is an ongoing case by the invaders against the City to prevent their eviction. Bardale residents went to court last week to fight the evictions but the case was postponed to July 17.
These land invaders built a “super shack” in which 200 people live, to act as a fortress against attempts to remove them. They said it was easier to defend “as there is safety in numbers”, while waiting for the court decision.
They argue that the City may not proceed to evict the occupiers without first obtaining an eviction order.
Community leader Gcobani Ntilashe said: “We have been the most peaceful community in the Western Cape. Some protest and barricade the streets, but we are treated like the worst.
“What we need is a place to stay, why is it so hard for them to give us this place?
“As our way forward we will hand in an application to the City of Cape Town that states the date on which we will gather for protest action,” he said
Dathney Mafuxwane, a mother of two, said: “We are being harshly treated here, why are we always evicted? I don’t even know where to go now, just think of my children in this cold whether, where are we going to hide at least our heads?”
Nomakhwezi Ndabeni, one of the invaders, was furious about the eviction.
“Every time when we are evicted our materials get lost,” he said. “These people do not even buy our lost materials. I want the City to pay me for the building materials which they damaged.”
Ward councillor Thembisile Batembu did not know about the eviction.
Xanthea Limberg of the City of Cape Town said: “We only act against illegal land grabs and structures that are unoccupied.” She said she would wait for the full statement from the Cape Town anti-land invasion unit.
The Bardale community’s lawyer, Thulasive Twalo, said that they appeared in court on June 20 as requested, and the case was postponed to July 17.