NEWS FEATURE
Fight for land spills out of Cape Town’s backyards
People in the city and throughout SA have taken advantage of state of disaster regulations that prohibit evictions
Cape Town is an exploding city. In the 12 months since lockdown began, 50 new informal settlements have sprung up. Between 30,000 and 40,000 new shacks sit on top of sand dunes, in winter wetlands, on railway reserves, on and between the tracks themselves, in nature reserves and sandwiched into small pockets of public land, adjoining public buildings, churches and on land reserved for bulk sewerage works.
The settlements have been named in accordance with the times: Covid; Sanitiser; Coronavirus and Ramaphosa. Some have a sense of humour too: there is Lockdown Bay and the Waterfront, which borders a large piece of water, in a low-lying area, that looks sure to become a floodplain over the winter. None have access to toilets and people make use of the open ground. They also do not have water and must buy it from neighbouring formal settlements...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.