Cape Town - Her family will not be forced to sleep on the street on Monday as Thandeka Sisusa had feared when she last month lost a Western Cape High Court bid challenging her eviction from her Sea Point flatlet.
Sisusa had been given notice to move out of a small room she had shared with her daughter and granddaughter at a Sea Point apartment building.
Despite vehement opposition in the form of protests and support from lobby groups and fellow domestic workers in the affluent neighbourhood, the court ruled in favour of Sisusa’s new landlords, who reportedly plan to use the extra space as a storeroom.
Sisusa, 38, was granted an extension, which expires on Monday.
“She did not have a very happy Christmas or New Year,” said Reclaim the City spokesperson Elizabeth Gqoboka, who, together with activists from Ndifuna Ukwazi and the Treatment Action Campaign, had supported Sisusa in her efforts to prevent an eviction.
“She was really sad and depressed, and she was worried about where she’s going to go when she moves out. We were also worried, but luckily, a good Samaritan came to her rescue.”
Gqoboka said Sisusa’s current employer had, albeit temporarily, offered her a room at the Castle of Good Hope where she and her daughter and granddaughter would stay.
“It’s a temporary arrangement but she’s very happy and relieved,” Gqoboka said.
It’s expected to be a busy new year for the activists, with several other eviction matters before court, including the Bromwell Street matter as well as the possible mass Marikana and Siqalo informal settlement eviction issues.
“We might also appeal against Thandeka’s case, but we are just waiting for everyone to come back from holiday,” Gqoboka said on Sunday.
“We will not give up now – we’ll just have to find other ways of fighting these (eviction) battles.”
Sisusa’s landlord, known only as Mrs Shen, last month told the Cape Argus she had run out of patience.
Shen, who said she was in Durban and would be back in Cape Town soon, said: “I need the room, it’s mine! I paid for it and I don’t need to explain myself to anyone. I have been more than tolerable and accommodating.”
Meanwhile, the Bromwell Street eviction saga is expected to be before the high court on January 31 after the families were given a final reprieve last month by Judge Leslie Weinkove, who warned he would not tolerate any further delays in the protracted legal wrangle between the families, the private property owner and the city council.
The Woodstock Hub, which owns Nos 120 to 128 Bromwell Street, where the families currently reside, had originally given the group until September 26 to vacate the premises after it had obtained a court order against.