Hijacking of buildings the biggest obstacle to social housing

IN THE article, “Mayor Geordin HillLewis asked to lease Cissie Gool House to the occupiers” (Cape Argus, November 8), readers are not informed of the City’s plans to develop social housing at this site.

Around 700 social housing units are possible in the Woodstock Hospital precinct, making it one of the biggest projects in the area. However, an orchestrated building hijacking of this property remains the biggest obstacle to social housing development of the site. The City cannot implement social housing projects on sites which have been illegally occupied, or buildings that have been hijacked, and is hopeful that a process of engagement will result in the vacation of the site without the need for a costly and time-consuming eviction process. The context is as follows:

In March 2017, in the days following the government’s announcement that social housing was to be developed at two well-located properties, a civil grouping, Ndifuna Ukwazi, called on supporters to hijack two buildings in central Cape Town under their Reclaim the City banner.

The building hijacking of Woodstock Hospital was followed by subsequent calls for financial contributions to “sustain and build” the illegal occupation.

These lawless actions were initially justified as a “symbolic” occupation but have since spiralled out of control, such that NU-RTC cannot account for who exactly is in the building., how many unlawful occupants there are, nor what the eligibility of the unlawful occupants are for statesubsidised housing. Despite their claims to represent the occupation, they are not in control of the lawless situation at the building.

In October 2018, the Western Cape High Court granted an order interdicting and restraining Reclaim the City from “inciting persons to enter or be upon the property for the purpose of unlawfully occupying or invading”.

The City is now obliged to proceed with litigation to ensure that the property is restored to it as the lawful owner.

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