THE City’s plans to relocate residents in need of emergency housing on the outskirts of the city centre have been slated as racist by activist organisation and law centre Ndifuna Ukwazi.
In an answering affidavit in a court case involving nine families who face eviction from their Bromwell Street homes in Woodstock, the City identified 10 areas where it planned to establish emergency housing.
These areas include Atlantis South, Strandfontein East, and Pelican Park South.
Ndifuna Ukwazi said the plans were reminiscent of apartheid’s spatial planning, where the inner city was reserved for white residents.
“To date, the City’s plans to address this legacy focus on cutting transport costs and commuting times into the city for working-class black and coloured people, instead of providing affordable accommodation in the inner city.
“This approach reiterates the apartheid principle that working-class black and coloured people should be migratory workers and not residents in and around the inner city,” the organisation said.
Mayco member for transport and urban development Brett Herron said the City would comment after the court case.
“Ndifuna Ukwazi launched this case while the City was busy attempting to assist the families who face eviction from private property they were renting in Bromwell Street.
“They launched court proceedings knowing full well that the City was attempting to assist the families and now seek to litigate through the media. The matter will be argued on Tuesday and we will comment once the court has heard our case,” Herron said.
The Bromwell Street families have been offered relocation to Wolwe Rivier, about 35km from Cape Town, but want the City to relocate them closer to the CBD.
The owners of their homes, Woodstock Hub, have been seeking to evict them since July 2015, but it has been stayed by several court appearances.