WOODSTOCK tenants facing eviction from their homes in Bromwell Street have been handed another reprieve by the Western Cape High Court.
But some residents who have endured the stress of being forcibly evicted from their homes have already thrown in the towel, and moved out.
On November 4, the court will hear the application from NGO Ndifuna Ukwazi to have the evictions halted, arguing that the City should provide affected residents with alternative accommodation.
Ndifuna Ukwazi researcher Emile Engel said the NGO “felt quite strongly” that the City had an obligation to house the tenants being evicted by the Woodstock Hub, the owners of the five cottages.
The Woodstock Hub, owned by prominent property developer Jacques van Embden, has since 2014 sought to evict the 28 families after it bought the cottages from the previous landlord who had charged rents between R2 500 and R2 900 a month.
Ndifuna Ukwazi is hoping that two legal precedents exist which compels the City to house those who are being evicted; the first case was that of fire victims of BM informal settlement in Khayelitsha and the second was that of residents left homeless by the upgrading of social housing units in Johannesburg's inner city which was affirmed by the Constitutional Court.
Bromwell Street resident Graham Beukes feels strongly that, despite the City saying their case was a “private matter”, it should have intervened earlier to help the mostly poor, working-class residents.
Beukes said as the September 26 deadline for their eviction drew closer residents were nervous, while others conceded defeat and moved from their homes.
“One of my neighbours broke down and cried last week; she didn't want to move out, but her husband found them another place in the backyard of a family member where they will now live in a wendy house,” said Beukes.
The eviction drama playing itself out in Bromwell Street is no different from what has happened in the past as the area's property has seen a rush of speculators, drawn by favourable tax incentives because Woodstock falls within the urban development zone administered by the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
For Beukes all this seems inconsequential. He and several residents are now waiting, and hoping for a miracle which will assure their continued existence in Woodstock.
“Some of the residents are hoping for government assistance. I applied for social housing at Belhar Gardens, but with my salary, and having to support my family there's no way I can afford paying over R3 000 in rent, far from the city centre,” said Beukes.
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