Cape Town - With nowhere else to go, homeless people living in tents and makeshift structures next to the Three Anchor Bay Tennis Club say they will wait until February 7 when police have been instructed to assist with their legal eviction from the property.
Eighty people from “Tent City” were ordered by the Western Cape High Court in December to vacate the land by January 31.
If they failed to do so, the sheriff of the court, assisted by police, was directed to evict them by February 7, and demolish and/or remove any structure on the property; and remove any possessions and/or building materials belonging to the homeless, which will be kept for a month.
The area was quiet on Wednesday, with no structure having been taken down and no sign of the homeless people intending to move.
Michael Stuurman, 52, Bernard Lukas, 28, and Carmen Levendal, 41, said they were staying put until they no longer could.
“We don’t have anywhere to go like the court order says we must leave,” said Stuurman.
“We are waiting until the 7th,” said Lukas.
“We decided we are going nowhere. “The shelter is not an option; a lot of bad happens there, like diseases and crime.
“Here we are safe, we have built a community and we feel safe.”
Levendal said at Tent City, children and the elderly were safer than elsewhere.
“We are staying here until SAPS comes and then we are going to hijack a building.
“I’ve lived here for two years, what about the women and children? They are giving us no other place,” she said.
City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said: “The City will follow due process in terms of the court order. There is a standing offer of dignified transitional shelter to unlawful occupants.”
Carlos Mesquita, founder of Outsider, a community upliftment organisation for the homeless, had a meeting with the homeless last night and said they would try to assist as many people as possible.
“We met with the residents last week but not all were here.
“We are calling a round-table tonight to plan for what’s to come.”