The City of Cape Town has been forced to apply for an interdict to prevent a group of individuals who have illegally invaded City-owned land in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton from building any further structures.
As a Caring City, we are sympathetic to their plight, and are investing in providing adequate and dignified human settlements across Cape Town; however in this case we cannot allow individuals to settle on land that has been earmarked by various City departments for broader development in the area. The City’s priority must be to ensure that any future development is not blocked by illegal land invasion – to the benefit of all residents in the area. The illegal invasion is also unfair to those residents who are on the City’s housing database and legitimately awaiting housing opportunities.
The City has explained the situation to the group in the past and has engaged with them on numerous occasions to try and find alternative solutions, but they have remained on the land and have steadily increased the size of the settlement. This is despite agreements that no further units would be built following the initial 40 units that were constructed late last year. There are now 218 families living on the site, who have used left over material from other projects to construct their units.
The City has therefore applied for an interdict against the construction of any further structures as all other paths have proved unsuccessful. The City has not applied for an eviction order at this stage and will only do so if the interdict to cease expansion on the site is not adhered to.
In the interim, the City’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit will continue to take down any illegal structures that are erected.
