Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign

The Constitutional Court has ordered the developers of the N2 Gateway project outside Cape Town to allocate 70% of the development at the Joe Slovo informal settlement to current residents. It’s also ordered that they be provided with temporary accommodation that must be electrified and serviced.

The residents had appealed to the Constitutional Court to overturn an eviction order granted by the Cape High Court. Thubelisha Homes, the national government’s housing agency, had wanted to move them 15 kilometres to Delft, to make room for formal housing. Joe Slovo is one of Cape Town’s biggest informal settlements, containing about 4 500 crowded shacks and nearly 20 000 residents.

In April, the Auditor-General (AG) identified major flaws in the management of the N2 Gateway Housing Project. In a special report commissioned by the National Department of Housing, the AG says the management of the project was not economical, efficient and effective. The controversial housing project has been marred by inefficiencies and allegations of corruption. The AG also found among other things that sufficient land was not identified and secured before construction of the N2 Gateway project commenced.