Cape Town – Hangberg residents were dealt another setback in the Western Cape High Court yesterday when their application to prevent the city council from evicting them, among others, was found not legally sufficient to proceed as a matter of urgency.
The residents were seeking a court order against the City to halt evictions and construction of an electricity depot, and for being in violation of a 2011 Hangberg peace agreement.
The residents hauled the city, SANParks, the provincial government and the Hangberg peace and mediation forum to court after unrest in the
traditional fishing community last month.
Yesterday, the court postponed the matter for a week to allow the residents to obtain legal services, and prepare the relevant documentation.
Hangberg activist Lee Smith said they went door-to-door for help and were still unable to obtain legal assistance, but they wanted to proceed with the matter because they wanted the court to intervene.
“The judge understood our situation and did not throw it out of court, but offered to assist us with obtaining pro bono legal assistance.
“An attorney also offered his assistance, and we are considering our options.
“The judge asked that the respondent’s attorneys accommodate us, and we are satisfied as we got our case on to the court role,” Smith said.
Smith said the agreements resulted from mediation after violent protests in Hangberg in 2010, which the residents said they would argue the city council failed to uphold.
Residents are seeking an interdict against their eviction, as well as to halt construction of an electricity depot and a planned recycling depot.
Cape Times
They are also fighting to stop the other respondents from engaging with the forum, until it had constituted itself in terms of the agreements.
Last month residents barricaded the street leading into Hangberg with trucks, and materials from the electricity depot’s construction site.
The city council said an air-quality study disallowed residential development on the land.
It resulted in a decision to sell erf 9652 to its electricity generation and distribution department in 2016 for the purpose of building a service depot, which is expected to be completed by February at a cost of R35million.