About 30 people living on the old circus grounds in Observatory are deciding on their next step after the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court gave the City the go-ahead to evict them.
Magistrate Reaz Khan granted the eviction order against the group, known as the Willow Arts Collective, on Friday May 19, but he also compelled the City to provide emergency accommodation at the Culemborg Safe Space 2 homeless shelter for 18 months.
The group, which has occupied the municipal property since 2016, has asked the City to let it rent the site, but it currently pays no rent.
The City applied for an eviction order in 2019 so that it could reincorporate the site into the Hartleyvale sporting precinct. At the time, the collective mounted a defence against the eviction and rejected the City’s offers to move it to Philippi and Mfuleni.
The collective now has until Saturday July 15 to indicate whether it accepts the latest offer of emergency accommodation, failing which it must leave the site by the end of July.
In 2020, Dr Zahid Badroodien, the then mayoral committee member for community services and health, said the land, which is zoned as public open space, was unsuitable for housing, and while there was a great need for housing in Cape Town, the City could not sacrifice all open land for that need alone (“Battle over circus land continues,” Thursday October 8, 2020).
“All communities need open spaces, sports facilities, places of worship and green belts in keeping with the district spatial plans. There is a need to extend the sports facility, which would not be possible if it is rezoned and repurposed,” he said at the time.
Dr Jonty Cogger, the group’s attorney, said that while the offer of alternative accommodation was in a well-located area, the conditions at the shelter were not ideal.
“Couples and families are separated. There is a daytime lockout rule whereby everyone must leave at 7am and return at 6pm. There is no personal privacy or space. This is especially concerning in light of a 2017 Constitutional Court judgment in the matter of Dladla v City of Johannesburg that held that these types of rules infringed the constitutional rights to dignity, bodily integrity, and privacy.”
Shayne Taliona, one of the people living at the site, said if they accepted the offer, they would likely end up on the streets after 18 months.
Moyo Uno, another member of the collective, said they had been on the property for five years, taking care of it, keeping it clear of criminal activity and growing vegetables. He questioned why the City would not consider leasing the property to them.
“We have a community that we built. Aside from the vegetables, we are busy making books, we have fitness classes and often open up the property to our Obs neighbours to enjoy the space.”
The City did not respond to questions, sent on Monday, by deadline.
