A recent judgment in the Durban High Court has confirmed what shack dwellers, urban land occupiers and their lawyers have known for some time – the state’s habitual use of legal loopholes to evict land occupiers from their homes is unconstitutional. What’s more, Judge Mokgohla’s decision has finally showed up the courts as sharing responsibility for allowing these evictions to go on unchecked.
Daneel Knoetze
Analysis | 26 August 2015
There is a deepening crisis of overcrowding, joblessness, insecurity and general destitution at Wolwerivier relocation camp. The community have explained their experiences, along with a call for engagement and support, in writing to the City of Cape Town. Their letter was ignored.
Daneel Knoetze
Opinion | 14 August 2015
Dozens of Metro Law Enforcement officers swooped on Wolwerivier relocation camp on Wednesday morning. They broke locks and ejected two households deemed to have occupied the municipal built structures unlawfully. Yet, a community leader has called this show of force an insult, citing the general lack of safety and protection for Wolwerivier's inhabitants.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 30 July 2015
The De Waal Drive tenants’ campaign to resist relocation to Pelican Park is gaining momentum. This weekend signatures from most tenants to ratify their elected committee were gathered, and yesterday the committee had a strategic session with the South Road Families Association (SRFA).
Daneel Knoetze
Opinion | 8 June 2015
Activists from the Treatment Action Campaign marched on Parliament this morning to call for better leadership in tuberculosis (TB) treatment and prevention in South Africa. Today is World TB day.
Daneel Knoetze
Brief | 24 March 2015
The ANC in KwaZulu Natal says it has decided to suspend two ward councillors, including Mduduzi Ngcobo, who face charges relating to the murder of Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) activist Thuli Ndlovu in September last year.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 20 March 2015
After a four year delay, the hearing in the case of 39 workers dismissed from Robertson Abattoir started in the Cape Town Labour Court this week.
Daneel Knoetze
Brief | 18 March 2015
An old dispute over representing the family legacy of Khomani San leader Dawid Kruiper has resurfaced in a public furore between writer Patricia Glyn and filmmaker Richard Wicksteed.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 17 March 2015
The parents of Mfuleni “tent school” students say that they are still unhappy with the arrangements made to accommodate their children. Now, community leaders are threatening to “evict” Bardale Primary School’s principal, if more classroom space is not made available.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 11 March 2015
A protest in Cape Town city centre by students from Philippi High School over the lack of infrastructure and classrooms at their campus was violently dispersed by police officers on Friday morning.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 6 March 2015
The SA Human Rights Commission is to re-examine its report on chemical toilets in the informal settlements, after finding procedural irregularities in the report.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 5 March 2015
As the country's attention was transfixed on the Table Mountain fires, another blaze claimed one life and left three families homeless in a Franschhoek informal settlement.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 5 March 2015
Langa residents are asking why a man accused of fraudulent plot sales to dozens of poor people has still not been arrested, while the activist who exposed him fears for her life.
Daneel Knoetze
Feature | 4 March 2015
While community leaders in Philippi East's Marikana informal settlement quibble over the cause of Wednesday's attacks on foreign business owners, the victims testify to long-standing xenophobic undercurrents in the community.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 26 February 2015
Siqalo residents have welcomed the City of Cape Town’s quick action to remove rubbish dumps that have spiraled out of control in recent weeks.
Daneel Knoetze
Brief | 25 February 2015
A last minute intervention by community leaders from Siqalo settlement, in Mitchells Plain, has prevented an accused child rapist from being released without charge.
Daneel Knoetze
Feature | 24 February 2015