Delft evictions turn violent

By Anele Siwa, Rhode Marshall, Celeste Ganga,
Chanel September & Nadia Samie
19 February 2008

Evictions carried out by the sherrif of the court in the Delft area turned violent on Tuesday. It is believed that six people were hit by police rubber bullets, after they allegedly threw stones at the police, refusing to vacate the incomplete dwellings that they currently occupy illegally.

The shooting occurred after a truck loaded the goods of the backyward dwellers, who are adamant that they are not going anywhere.

The police’s Superintendent Andre Traut says that police were forced to take action, using stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

“At this stage we have six casualties and the injured are being treated on the scene,” Traut says.

Anti-Eviction Campaign co-ordinator Ashraf Cassiem says that the police started shooting after people refused to move. He alleges that the people were quietly sitting down at the time of the shooting, a claim contradicted by police on the scene.

“They’ve arrested a co-ordinator in the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, as well as a co-ordinator from the Delft Anti-Eviction Campaign,” Cassiem says.

The evictions come after Judge Deon van Zyl on Monday dismissed the application for leave to appeal an eviction order in the Cape High Court. The community have indicated that they will launch an appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. The backyard dwellers have been illegally occupying unfinished homes in the area since December last year.

A media release from the Anti-Eviction Campaign reads: "Following yesterday's ruling in the High Court which uphold's Thubelisha Homes and the state's eviction order against the community, the residents decided to appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein."

The Anti-Eviction Campaign says if government succeeds in evicting the residents, more than six thousand people could become homeless.

Meanwhile, the ANC has supported the recommendation of the MEC for Local Government and Housing Richard Dyantyi, for action to be taken against the DA councillor who is alleged to have encouraged the backyard dwellers to invade the unfinished houses.