Cape Town - The families who were forced to flee Blikkiesdorp as a result of ongoing violence, have sent a lawyer’s letter to the City of Cape Town to force them to find alternative accommodation for them or else they will take the matter to court.
The families have taken legal advice and plan to bring an urgent application to the Cape Town High Court requiring the City to reinstate the homes in which they lived until they were dispossessed or, alternatively, provide the families with alternative safe accommodation by today.
“We are still waiting to hear back from the City. We are giving them time to respond and then we will take it from there,” community leader Ettienne Claasen said.
Thirty people from nine families in Blikkiesdorp were forced to flee for their lives and sought refuge in the Central Methodist Church in the CBD after they came under attack from a mob trying to force themselves on to the housing waiting list.
“All the families are still very scared and unsure of what to do and where to go because we have to be out of the Church by Friday,” Claasen said.
A group of leaders in the community formed the Blikkiesdorp Joint Committee (BJC) to work towards decent housing.
The BJC then engaged with the planning process which was under way for an upgrade to the adjacent airport. They were able to engage with the consultants, airport management of the Airports Company South Africa and the City of Cape Town about the plans for their relocation. The plan did not provide for two key communities – foreign nationals and those not eligible for RDP housing.
The group and the City then agreed that all the people from the area, as captured in a 2016 census, would be moved to either houses or site and service plots in a development nearby, which would include light industrial developments. The community will be filling in subsidy forms over the next few weeks.
Claasen said that together with Right2Know they had sent a letter to the City, asking the City to find them alternative accommodation. The letter also requests that the families be able to access and complete the subsidy forms that are going to be distributed in Blikkiesdorp on Saturday and to bring eviction proceedings against alleged unlawful occupiers of the families’ homes and secure Blikkiesdorp and ensure the safety and security of all of its lawful residents.
Mayoral committee member for Informal settlements, water and waste services; and energy, Xanthea Limberg said: “The City is monitoring the situation in Blikkiesdorp and will respond accordingly.”
@MarvinCharles17
Cape Argus