Cape Town - It is a grim anniversary because their desire for decent housing close to their workplaces in the city centre has not been met, five years after they occupied Ahmed Kathrada House in Sea Point and the Woodstock Hospital, now known as Cissie Gool House.
Spurred on by Reclaim the City, the group protested against the City’s refusal to build well-located affordable housing for workers in the city.
In March 2017 a group of workers from Woodstock, Sea Point, Marikana informal settlement, Blikkiesdorp and Khayelitsha, who were evicted from their respective rental places and work, occupied the houses in a bid to stop the provincial government from selling the Tafelberg site and building social housing.
Residents at Cissie Gool House have since faced numerous evictions, alleged intimidation, and raids by law enforcement and police, including a fire that broke out in January and displaced families.
Reclaim the City activist in the Ahmed Kathrada House, Shiela Madikane, who is the only one left of the seven initial occupiers, said the house was now home to close to 900 individuals.
“Initially the occupation was for workers in the Sea Point area and was not permanent, but in the long run it became evident that a lot of people faced evictions and had nowhere to go.
“Our occupations have afforded us a place we can call home, despite facing constant evictions.
“While we have been without electricity for five years we have become used to it now. However, it is a great need as there are elderly people who are suffering from chronic illness.
“Until we are afforded affordable rental units within the inner city, we will continue with the occupation,” she said.
A resident at Cissie Gool House, Ndumiso Hadebe, who was evicted from his rented flat in Wynberg in 2018, said the place has now given him and his family a lifeline.
Ndifuna Ukwazi head of political organising and campaigns, Buhle Booi, said the occupations were symbolic at the time and were a protest against the sale of public land to maximise profit.
He said over time these occupations became homes to thousands of people. Booi said the role of Ndifuna Ukwazi has been to offer community organising, research, and operational support to the movement, the occupations, and its leaders to help sustain it and develop systems.
“As we did five years ago we continue to call on Premier Alan Winde and the City of Cape Town to realise the possibilities of these occupations as lived alternatives for the current residents. We furthermore call on Winde to release the Tafelberg site to build affordable housing for the marginalised masses of our people to advance a spatially just and inclusive city,” he said.
Booi said as a result of the occupations the Reclaim the City had forced the state to release public land for affordable housing.