“Pavement dwellers” given until month end to vacate the Cape Town CBD

Following a court eviction order granted by the Western Cape High Court, the City of Cape Town has given all illegal occupants within the city an ultimatum to vacate the city’s Central Business District by August 1, 2024.

In an effort to clean up the inner city and improve safety, the City of Cape Town took a legal route to legally remove hundreds of people living in the streets across the city’s CBD.

Over a week later, after the court issued the eviction order, the city put out notices across the CBD area, natably in District Six, prohibiting any illegal occupation in the area and noting that it is a criminal offence to illegally occupy any site in the Cape Town inner-city.

Many of the squatters in Cape Town’s inner city are homeless people who have found homes on the pavements of the city.

The eviction order issued by the court follows a lengthy legal dispute between the city and the activist, who advocates for the rights of homeless people.

The city of Cape Town extended its hand to provide alternative accommodations for at least six months to individuals living on the streets of the inner city.

However, this does not exhilarate those facing eviction, as they are more concerned about their safety in the accommodation provided by the city.

One of the homeless people occupying an area in the inner city near Cape Peninsula University of Technology said, “if they can get us to a place where we will be safe and have good facility then I think that’s a good idea,

But the law enforcement just said that they’re going to come this time and then they’re going to remove us but we don’t know where we’re going. So, I mean if they have a place for us then that would be fine.

Safety is not the only concern for those facing removals.

Other anxieties are challenges that come with the accommodation that the city is providing.

According to homeless activist Iddi Challah, challenges such as curfews at the city-provided accommodation will prevent them from working late hours, as many of them – homeless people – do in places like taxi ranks and recycling sites.