The City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement acts in contempt of court order-2
The City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement acts in contempt of court
order
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 29 March 2023
This morning Law Enforcement harassed & burned the money that belonged to the
unhoused community in District 6, this is contempt of a court order that was granted against
the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement from conducting such operations in D6.
The unhoused community are victimised by Law Enforcement who also confiscate their
belongings. This vile treatment does not help in any way but rather compounds people’s
trauma.
This vicious cycle – back-and-forth violence against the unhoused community will not
address the root causes of homelessness in the mother city but only moves unhoused
people from one place to another, “out of sight, out of mind.”
If the City has claimed they will follow the law to evict people, and treat them with dignity,
then why harass them?
This will never build trust for City social workers, it will only contribute to a worsening
relationship between itself and street based people.
The City must work with well-informed organisations and unhoused communities on how
homelessness could be resolved. Continually harassing someone who sleeps on the streets
and displacing them from the homes they have made does not address the real issue of
building suitable alternative housing, like transitional housing.
We put these questions to the City:
● Under whose instructions was Law Enforcement unleashed onto the unhoused?
● Contempt of a court order is illegal. Will the City compensate what they have burned?
● When is the City urgently building more safe spaces & transitional housing?
Contact
● Iddi Faraji Challah, resident of District 6: 073 297 9653
● Danielle Louw, Ndifuna Ukwazi Law Centre attorney: 072 957 9711
