Film depicts stand against inner city developers

AS THE relocation battle between the City of Cape Town and 27 Bromwell Street residents continues to play out in court, the Reclaim the City campaign for affordable housing development in the inner city has documented one resident’s stand against developers.

The City plans to relocate 27 people including children to an incremental development area in Wolwerivier, which the residents have rejected, saying it is far from schools, health-care facilities, and transport nodes.

This follows the Woodstock Hub’s purchase of the houses in 2013, and which then instituted eviction proceedings.

According to court papers, the property development company wants to construct “middle-income” units to be rented at R5 000 to R9 000 a month.

Former Woodstock resident Charol Jacobs’ wendy house was an obstacle last year to Swish Properties’ construction of a luxury apartment block, the Woodstock Quarter, on Main Road, the campaign said in a statement.

Leaving Home, a documentary film in four parts, chronicles Jacobs’ story.

It will be screened online from March 14 to 17 on Reclaim the City’s Facebook page. It is directed by Daneel Knoetze and produced by Wagtale Films.

“Charol’s stand inspired us, and her story stands for that of many families in Woodstock and Salt River who are weathering a new wave of forced removals from our city,” the campaign said.

Jacobs, 55, now lives in Manenberg, and said she hoped the documentary would inspire people to fight for land justice.

“When I was a child we were forcibly removed from District Six, and now this. The developers came here and were harassing me to move out of the wendy house I was renting,” she said.