City encourages Atlantis protesters to engage meaningfully over their concerns

19 February 2021

The City of Cape Town’s Subcouncil 1 is currently engaging with representatives from Atlantis and will continue making every effort to address legitimate community concerns and to provide services within a planned and fair manner, wherever possible, within the constraints of available budgets.

The City condemns the recent violent protests, and vandalism in Reygersdal Avenue close to Subcouncil offices and other violent acts related to these protests by a small group of residents in Atlantis in recent weeks. Yesterday (Thursday, 18 February) there was another attempt to illegally invade land in the area.
 
After receiving a briefing from the Subcouncil 1 leadership, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management Alderman Grant Twigg said: 'I am disturbed by the scenes of violence and lawlessness that has been taking place in some areas in Atlantis in recent weeks.
 
‘While the City supports the right to protest, we condemn in the strongest terms illegal and violent protests, which threaten the lives of our residents and cause costly damage to infrastructure and services. Every rand that is spent repairing damaged, burnt or vandalised facilities or infrastructure is money that could be spent on providing much-needed services to the community.
 
'The City also condemns the unlawful occupation on both private and City-owned property as these actions are illegal and consequently impact on service delivery to other residents. Every time we see the illegal occupation of land, we undermine fair and systematic housing delivery processes amid a very high demand for affordable accommodation brought on by continued rapid urbanisation and the dire state of the South African economy, exacerbated by COVID-19 and national lockdowns.
 
‘The Subcouncil is currently engaging with delegations from the community and will continue making every effort to address legitimate community concerns and to provide services within a planned and fair manner, wherever possible, within the constraints of available budgets.
 
‘We request the small grouping who have been protesting to respect the majority of law-abiding members of community when protesting or voicing their concerns,’ said Alderman Twigg.

End

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office