LOOK: ‘Down with the DA down!’, chant land rights activist, residents affected by City of Cape Town’s decision to auction properties
Chanting slogans “Down with the DA down! Stop the auction! Stop the auction!”, a group of less than 40 housing activists from Reclaim the City and Housing Assembly, together with affected residents, protested outside the DHL Stadium in Greenpoint, Cape Town, on Thursday.
The group said they are opposed to the auctioning of the City of Cape Town’s housing rental stock. Reclaim the City is campaigning for the redistribution of empty and underutilised land and buildings to poor and working class people. They said they did not want the properties to be sold to private developers.
Inside the DHL Stadium, High Street Auctions company was in the process of auctioning a number of properties, one of which was 47 New Church Street, Cape Town, in which Hazel Matipa said she had been a tenant for 13 years.
Reclaim the City leader, Karen Hendricks said: “We know we are in the middle of a housing crisis, a housing crisis that the whole of Cape Town faces.
“We came here today to say enough is enough and to support the tenants.”
Hendricks said the attorney for New Church Street tenants wrote to the city on Wednesday, asking them to strike the matter from the auction list; however, the appeal was unsuccessful.
New Church Street tenant Hazel Matipa said: "There are eight houses, four of which are occupied by families. My new lease period will expire in 2025.”
Matipa said it came as a surprise when, after 13 years of staying at the property, on October 11, 2023, she received a letter from the city saying that they are planning to sell it.
She questioned whether she had the option of buying the property, but was told that she needed to communicate with the writer, which she did. Matipa said she has not received any response to her request to purchase the property.
“I just feel my human rights have been infringed. There is no mercy. There’s no compassion. These developers came to my house without any communication. You feel intimidated. It’s so embarrassing. We are nothing. We feel humiliated,” Matipa added.
Spokesperson for the City of Cape Town, Luthando Tyhalibongo, said: “This property (47 New Church Street, Cape Town) forms part of a de-proclaimed road scheme and is not required for municipal purposes. The property does not form part of the Human Settlements’ rental stock portfolio.”
Tyhalibongo said the city would engage the current tenants in alternative living options. He said the city undertakes to communicate timeously with them and would not deviate from the terms and conditions of the lease agreement and applicable legislation when engaging tenants on the termination of their lease agreements.
IOL