The City of Cape Town has published a statement that it will forge ahead with evictions of Reclaim the City’s occupations, Cissie Gool House (CGH) in Woodstock and Ahmed Kathrada House (AKH) in Green Point, the latter of which belongs to the Western Cape Provincial Government.
It has been almost four years since Reclaim the City’s occupations first started addressing evictions, displacement, and homelessness in the Woodstock and Sea Point areas. These occupations started as political protests, pressuring the government to deliver on its promises to build social and affordable housing in well-located areas. However, as the urgent need in these areas became clear, the occupations came to provide a home for community members who found themselves without dignified housing options. Reclaim the City now argues that what started as a symbol of accountability has organically become part of the solution for affordable housing provision. They want the City to recognise this and partner with them in creating a creative alternative that serves people on these sites
CGH and AKH are now community-driven alternative housing models that accommodate up to 1 400 people who may otherwise have been evicted and displaced from communities they have known all their lives. Now, these residents are facing the threat of eviction again.
