Cape Town - Efforts to remove squatters in Wynberg have reached boiling point, with the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) accused of illegally evicting them at the weekend and a petition from residents calling for their removal.
The eviction of more than 100 people along Mosque and Broad Roads had been in the works for more than three years as discussions between land owner Prasa, the City and other stakeholders continued.
Prasa did not respond to multiple requests for comment by deadline yesterday. It was believed that the illegal occupants erected the structures during the Covid-19 lockdown.
On Thursday, four people were shot and on Friday someone was stabbed.
On Sunday, Prasa, with private security, went into the area and broke down the makeshift homes.
On Monday morning, when the Cape Argus visited the area near the Yusufeyyah Masjied, law enforcement and private security were still visible.
Some of the squatters’ belongings were still in the fenced spaces near the taxi rank. Ward councillor Carmen Siebritz expressed anger over the eviction, which she labelled illegal.
“This has been coming for years. I inherited this in 2021 when I became the councillor.
“We have been trying to assist Prasa with the eviction, and advised the agency to go the proper route.
“An illegal eviction agreed upon between Prasa and external stakeholders in the Wynberg area was carried out on Sunday. While I agree that every person has the right to worship in a clean and safe space, there are processes to follow. This is obviously not what most residents in Wynberg want to hear, but it’s reality.”
She said that after the closure of the Strandfontein Covid Camp site, homeless people were called on to indicate where they wanted to be relocated to.
“Everyone indicated their preference, and the City obliged. There were people dropped off in Wynberg.
“According to my knowledge, and as informed by City officials directly involved at the camp site, the persons were dropped off opposite the William Herbert Sport Complex on Rosmead Avenue, Wynberg.
“The fact that the homeless made their way and settled on the hill next to the Yusufeyyah Masjied was a result of their choice and not the City. Unfortunately, the homeless chose to settle on Prasa land, which adversely affected the Masjied for years.
“We’ve been meeting with Prasa monthly, at which we’ve been advising them to apply for an interdict while at the same time applying for the eviction order.
“We have repeatedly offered assistance by offering to be a friend in their application to the court. Sadly, neither the interdict nor the eviction order has been applied for, to this day.”
She said Prasa removed the people but had no plans for them, while the City’s social service only had two people who agreed to be relocated into safe spaces.
Wynberg Residents and Ratepayers Association spokesperson Philippa Duncan said there had been increased pressure from residents to have the illegal occupants moved.
“This was because of the fact that they are causing crime, they are using public areas as toilets because they have no access to the bathrooms.
“There’s been a massive rise in drug taking and crime. Prasa then went, without alerting the local ward councillor and anyone else, to evict people over the weekend. This came from the fact that on Friday night there were four people who were shot.”
Squatter Furell Leeman said they would not stand for another unlawful eviction.
“We are going to fight, because other people smash shops and they get places. We have been shifted from place to place, and on Sunday no one explained to us why they were evicting us. And this happened after gangsters came to attack us,” he said.
Yusufeyyah Masjied secretary Yunus Karriem said there was a petition with 1300 signatures calling for the squatters to be removed.
“Just Friday there was a stabbing, I don’t know if the person survived or he passed away. Those are the types of problems that have been happening for the past three years.
“There were no services on that site and people would urinate against the mosque, defecating too. We knew the land belonged to Prasa and last year the congregation and residents signed the petition and gave it to Prasa.”