Wednesday, 31 July, marked the final due date for the designated group of unlawful occupants to begin relocation before any make-shift structures were set to be demolished.
With the impending eviction, approximately 150 members of the group elected to relocate to Safe Space Shelters provided by the City.
Also read: Cape Town mayor defends Safe Spaces amid homeless eviction deadline
Over 150 of the respondents have accepted the City’s offer of dignified transitional shelter.
This is in response to the Western Cape High Court’s granting of a final eviction order for various unlawful occupation sites in Cape Town’s CBD.
Though the mandated due date for relocation was 31 July, as a result of the cooperation and agreement of over 150 homeless people, the final date has now been postponed to 12 August.
The City will provide assistance for voluntary Safe Space relocation from 5 to 9 August.
Once this date has lapsed, preparations will be made to evict the remaining unlawful occupants within relevant areas as of 12 August.
The court order has been altered to reflect this postponement.
The order pertains to the unlawful occupation hotspots in Buitengracht Street, FW De Klerk Boulevard, Foregate Square, taxi rank in Foreshore, Helen Suzman Boulevard, Strand Street, Foreshore/N1, Virginia Avenue and Mill Street Bridge in the city.
A standing interdict has been included in the court order to prevent future unlawful occupation in the listed areas.
Upon relocation, individuals are requested to further take along all of their personal property. Items left behind will be documented and stored at the City’s Ndabeni facility, where they can be collected by the rightful owner.
Respondents have been offered beds in the brand new Ebenezer Safe Space.
In total, 127 people will relocate to this Safe Space with another 26 relocating to Culemborg Safe Space 2.
The City has stated that the offer of dignified and voluntary relocation to the Safe Space Shelters remains available at all times for those who have not yet accepted.
‘Accepting social assistance to get off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health, and well-being, and the City has gone to great lengths to extend every offer of care to individuals unlawfully occupying public places in various parts of the CBD.’
‘No person has the right to indefinitely refuse all offers of social support while reserving a public place as exclusively theirs’ comments Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
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Picture: Brenton Geach / Gallo Images