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Woodstock Hospital: One step closer to social housing as High Court orders survey

Statement by the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi BooiThe Western Cape High Court today, 22 April 2021, granted an order for the City and the legal representatives of some of the unlawful occupiers (CALS) to conduct a survey to determine the identity and number of illegal occupants at Woodstock Hospital. This brings the City closer to its plans to drive social housing and reverse the toxic legacy of organised building hijackings which took place in March 2017. Following government’s announcement of social housing plans for well-located properties, Ndifuna Ukwazi staged an organised invasion under their “Reclaim the City” banner, with subsequent calls to “sustain and build” the illegal occupation.

<ul><li><div style="text-align:left;">Around 700 social housing units are possible at the Woodstock site, making it our biggest project in the area. Other social housing projects in the area with major milestones coming up this year amount collectively to around 620 units.</div></li><li><div style="text-align:left;">The City is further enabling the construction phases of more than 2 000 affordable housing opportunities in and near urban centres across the metro to develop greater spatial equality in Cape Town. </div></li></ul>For four years, organised building hijackings have stalled social housing development at both the city-owned Woodstock Hospital site and the Helen Bowden property near the V&A Waterfront, owned by the Western Cape Government. At the time of launching their campaign, Ndifuna Ukwazi designed the Reclaim the City Constitution to include an explicit intent to invade property, with a clear objective to “support the expropriation of property which aligns with the vision, objectives, principles, and values of Reclaim the City”. There can be no doubt that Reclaim the City’s constitution is out of step with the South African Constitution, and the rule of law in general. The outcome of the building hijackings was to derail constitutional social housing development and fair allocation of opportunities. Manufacturing an illegal occupation cannot be equated with activism, and building hijacking cannot be condoned under any circumstances. We stand united with social housing companies in this viewpoint. What was initially claimed to be a “symbolic” occupation, has since spiralled out of control. In October 2018, the Western Cape High Court granted an order interdicting and restraining Reclaim the City from “inciting persons to enter or be upon the property for the purpose of unlawfully occupying or invading”.In contempt of this order, the number of unlawful occupants has increased substantially, along with reports of criminality, rent extortion rackets, violence and mob activity, to the detriment of the surrounding community. The City is now following the correct legal route to drive social housing development at Woodstock Hospital, beginning with the court-ordered survey to determine the number of illegal occupants, their identities, monthly income, eligibility for state-subsidised housing, and willingness to vacate the property so that social housing plans are not further delayed. Development cannot begin until all illegal occupants vacate the site, hopefully voluntarily, and the City will pursue eviction proceedings if needs be.For the City, the matter is urgent as we can proceed with social housing building plan submissions within a short time frame due to favourable zoning and rights on the property subject to any heritage requirements. While we face many challenges in housing delivery – including national grant cuts, unlawful occupations and red tape – we will not accept big-dollar-funded groupings like Ndifuna Ukwazi blocking government’s development agenda.City’s court-ordered survey request The City’s survey request was initially opposed by some of the illegal occupants. The City’s legal team was however approached by the legal team for some of the illegal occupants with a draft order authorising the survey. This was agreed to and made an order of the court this morning.To enable the Court to conduct a just and equitable enquiry into this matter, the City must by law engage the illegal occupants who have legal representation, as well as those who are unrepresented.At this stage, legal advisers for some of the respondents cannot accurately account for how many illegal occupants are actually on-site, and their identities. But in terms of the order, a verified spreadsheet of biographical information and affidavits will now be supplied by CALS as to who they actually represent. The information provided will enable the City to meaningfully engage the represented illegal occupants on:<ul><li><div style="text-align:left;">whether they are prepared to vacate the property, </div></li><li><div style="text-align:left;">whether they will require alternative accommodation if refusing to vacate and an eviction becomes necessary</div></li><li><div style="text-align:left;">whether a represented illegal occupant qualifies for available state-subsidised housing, emergency housing, or social housing, either in the planned development or as may be available elsewhere</div></li></ul>There is a further undertaking in the court order for illegal occupants not to disrupt the City’s survey of those not represented by CALS.The court order further authorises the City to supplement its founding affidavit for the purposes of eviction proceedings should this become necessary.While some of the respondents initially wanted to delay the survey for spurious reasons, we welcome the about-turn and finalisation of a court order this morning. The City will continue to follow the correct legal route to drive social housing at Woodstock Hospital. End

2021-04-21T22:00:00Z

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