City seeks eviction order for Tent City, Wingfield

THE City of Cape Town and national government departments are jointly seeking a High Court eviction order for foreign nationals occupying sites in Ysterplaat and Bellville, while housing rights activists Ndifuna Ukwazi have criticised the application, arguing for housing as a human right.

- GENEVIEVE SERRA

The City said they would launch the application for an eviction of the remainder of foreign nationals who were unlawfully occupying sites at Wingfield in Voortrekker Road, and Paint City in Bellville.

“While hundreds of foreign nationals have accepted support to relocate from these sites over several years, the remaining unlawful occupants have refused all offers of assistance by the state and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),” the City said.

The foreign nationals were initially relocated to the two sites during the Covid-19 Level 5 lockdown emergency regulations.

This was after the High Court granted their eviction from Green Market Square and the Central Methodist Church in the Cape Town CBD.