Municipality has tried to back out of settlement to buy unlawfully occupied buildings By Tania Broughton An agreement made an order of the court last year required the City of Ekurhuleni to buy 16 unlawfully occupied buildings using provincial funds. The agreement put an end to years of legal wrangling between the City, the province, the occupiers and the owners of...

Covid-19 triggered a plan to move families from overcrowded Dunoon informal settlements, but more than a year later, they’re still there By Peter Luhanga The Racing Park Developers’ Association wants to overturn the sale of industrial land to the Western Cape Human Settlements Department. The association has already unsuccessfully appealed against the rezoning of the land for mixed-use housing of 1,500...

City of Cape Town says national government slow to release “well-located” land for affordable housing By Marecia Damons Land and housing legal support organisations Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) and Reclaim the City (RTC) say the City of Cape Town is moving too slowly on its promises to create affordable housing. In July 2017, the City announced that 11 pieces of public land in the...

Treating occupiers as criminals fails to recognise that the vast majority of people are forced to take land, says Ndifuna Ukwazi By Mary-Anne Gontsana Over 8,000 people have signed a petition to extend the City of Cape Town’s public comment period on a draft by-law. Public comments closed on 31 July. Housing activists believe the by-law will criminalise the occupation of...