Dad, 80, sleeps on street

EVICTED: PROTESTERS STOP AUCTION OF HOUSE AT LAST MINUTE

Order of City of Cape Town catches inhabitants by surprise ‘as everything is paid up’.

Housing and community activists disrupted property auction in Mouille Point yesterday to protest against the eviction of 80-year-old Kenneth Blaine and his family.

More than a dozen activists interrupted the auction with singing and chants of “No auction!” The protesters argued with auctioneer Andrew Koch for more than an hour before the event was officially cancelled. Koch is the executive director of Claremart, which has a contract with the City of Cape Town to sell its properties.

“Evictions that lead to homelessness are illegal and unconstitutional,” said Nkosikhona Swaartbooi, a member of housing activist group Reclaim the City. “Where was the alternative housing for this man and his family?”

Koch announced just before the auction began that the Plein Street property had been illegally occupied, and that all legal processes had been followed to accommodate the residents.

Kenneth Blaine and his son, Alain, remained outside the house in Woodstock during the auction. They claimed they had been given no options for alternative housing, and no warning of eviction.

“We had nowhere to go,” said Joanne Blaine, Alain’s wife. “They didn’t tell us anything.”

The Woodstock family were evicted on Monday – and spent the night on the street.

The 80-year-old Blaine claimed the house’s deed was in his deceased

We were completely surprised. No warning, nothing