Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CAPETOWN148
2009-06-17 06:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Cape Town
Cable title:  

N2 GATEWAY/JOE SLOVO EVICTION RULING

Tags:  PGOV KDEM SF 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0676
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHTN #0148/01 1680642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170642Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3133
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 6440
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0115
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2153
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 3297
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAPE TOWN 000148 

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

AF/S FOR RMARBURG AND MJAMES

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT: N2 GATEWAY/JOE SLOVO EVICTION RULING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAPE TOWN 000148

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

AF/S FOR RMARBURG AND MJAMES

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT: N2 GATEWAY/JOE SLOVO EVICTION RULING


1. (U) Summary: On June 10, 2009 the Constitutional Court upheld an
order of the Cape High Court whereby residents of the Joe Slovo
informal settlement would be evicted and moved to the more remote
area of Delft in order to facilitate the building of houses as part
of the N2 Gateway Project. The Court, however, added that the more
than 20, 000 residents who will be evicted must be given alternative
housing. End summary.

2. (U) The N2 Gateway Housing Project is an initiative which was
started in March 2005 by the three tiers of government, namely the
National Department of Housing, the Western Cape Provincial
Government, and the City of Cape Town in an effort to provide
low-cost housing to the poor. All three tiers were, at the time,
controlled by the African National Congress (ANC) and the project
was managed by the parastatal Thubelisha Homes. The project aimed
to develop land on either side of the N2 Highway, but this
necessitated the eviction of the informal settlement dwellers
currently on the land. It was proposed that the residents of the
Joe Slovo settlement be relocated a considerable distance away from
their current homes and places of employment to an area on the
outskirts of Cape Town known as Delft. In 2008 the Government
obtained an eviction order in the Cape High Court against the
residents in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and
Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 (PIE Act). The residents
appealed against this order to the Constitutional Court. In their
appeal, the residents argued that there was no meaningful
consultation with them in relation to this project, specifically on
the criteria for the allocation of housing in the new development as
well as arrangements for their accommodation during the development
process. They also argued that they had the consent of the City to
reside in the Joe Slovo Settlement, and that this consent was not
terminated prior to eviction proceedings being implemented.
Accordingly, they were not 'unlawful occupiers' in terms of the PIE
Act. Finally, they raised the unsuitability of relocating to Delft
and the disruptive impact it would have on their employment
situation, social support networks and the education of children.
Argument was heard before the Constitutional Court on 21 August 2008
and judgment was delivered on 10 June 2009 with the Court upholding

the earlier eviction order, but insisting that Joe Slovo residents
be given proper alternative accommodation and that 70% of the
residents be accommodated in the future new low-cost housing
development at the N2 Gateway.

3. (SBU) POL Asst spoke with representatives of the various
political parties regarding the ruling. Garth Strachan, African
National Congress (ANC) spokesperson for the Western Cape, said the
ANC welcomed the ruling and regarded it as a victory for future
housing projects undertaken by the government. He said the ANC
accepts and respects the judicial process and the outcome of the
case and remains committed to the N2 Gateway project. COPE
Communications Director, Phillip Dexter, said the court case
highlighted a larger problem and his party was extremely concerned
about the slow pace of delivery of essential services. He indicated
that if the ANC was delivering what it had promised in past
elections there would be no need for people to illegally occupy
land. He said his party would closely monitor ANC delivery goals and
push for speedy delivery of essential services. He added that COPE
Qpush for speedy delivery of essential services. He added that COPE
would focus on these social issues and do everything in its power to
improve the plight of the poorer communities in South Africa. The
Democratic Alliance (DA) MEC for Housing, Bonginkosi Madikizela,
said that despite inheriting the project from the ANC, his party
respected the court ruling and would honor the conditions imposed by
the court. (Note: The Western Cape Province is no longer in ANC
control and is now run by the DA as a result of the April 2009
elections. End note.) He said that one of the most important
lessons the DA can take from the N2 Gateway project is to
communicate with communities affected by development. However, he
warned that illegal occupation of land would not be tolerated by the
Provincial Government. Madikizela said his party was honor-bound to
see the N2 Gateway Project to fruition despite the controversy
surrounding it. He indicated that the DA has grave concerns over
many issues surrounding the project and would try its best to find
alternate solutions to its inherent flaws.

4. (SBU) The continued failure, both in Cape Town and nationally,
of government and its designated development agents to fulfill their
long-repeated promises of affordable formal housing for those living
in informal settlement shacks is at the root of the Joe Slovo
crisis, as it is throughout rural and township South Africa. The
housing backlog in the Western Cape is 380,000 units and worsens
every year. The backlog increases by 18,000 units a year, while only
10,000 houses a year are being built, often resulting in people
spending more than twenty years on the waiting list for government
housing. The N2 Gateway project is itself not without controversy.
Since its launch in 2004, then-Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu's
flagship project has run into numerous problems with delayed
delivery, cost over-runs and lack of consultation. One of the major
criticisms of the project is that it was not conceived to build
houses or to contribute to solving the Western Cape housing crisis,

CAPE TOWN 00000148 002 OF 002


but rather to beautify the margins of the N2 highway before the 2010
World Cup, thereby eliminating the poor from the sides of the N2 and
replacing them with more expensive housing. This case will be a
significant test case for the rights of poor communities who are
evicted to make way for housing upgrades.
La Lime