Empolweni

What is affected

Housing private

Type of violation

Forced eviction
Demolition/destruction
Dispossession/confiscation

Date

09 April 2020

Region

AFA [ Africa anglophone ]

Country

South Africa

Location

Empolweni, City of Cape Town

Affected persons

	Total 100
	Men 0
	Women 0
	Children 0

Proposed solution

Details

Empolweni.pdf
SERI-SouthAfrica_Submission_COVID-housing_rights.pdf

Development

Forced eviction

Costs

Demolition/destruction

Housing losses

- Number of homes

- Total value €

Duty holder(s) /responsible party(ies)

	State
	Local
	City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement

Brief narrative

On 9 April 2020, the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement unit forcibly evicted residents of Empolweni. The residents were evicted without any court order or notice. The Law Enforcement unit returned on Saturday, 11 April 2020 to carry out more evictions and demolish shacks. Over a hundred residents were evicted. In these evictions many were assaulted for refusing to leave simply because they had nowhere else to go. On 17 April 2020, the Cape High Court ruled that the Empolweni evictions were illegal.

Costs

€ 0

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