General Council of the Bar concerned Cato Crest residents

Mluleki Mrwebi
24 September 2013

The General Council of the Bar said it has noted with concern the recent evictions of over 100 informal settlers at Cato Crest in Durban.

Over the past two weeks, the residents of the settlement have been evicted and left homeless three times by the Durban Municipality's land invasion unit.

Semenya the Chairperson of the GCB said the residents have urgently approached the High Court on no less than five occasions, claiming that their eviction was unlawful. They have obtained three interim court interdicts, restraining the Durban Municipality from evicting them again without a court order, and have subsequently rebuilt their homes. However, on each occasion the Municipality's land invasion unit has returned to the settlement and destroyed the residents' homes once again.

Sejmenya added that the GCB notes reports that the residents were driven to occupy land at Cato Crest earlier this year after they were excluded from a project intended to provide housing to them and others in a nearby informal settlement.