This comes after police impounded their belongings recently.
Recently, police were ordered to disassemble tents and impound property belonging to a group of homeless people living next to the Green Point tennis courts in Cape Town. Now, the community has received some relief after some of their property has been returned to them.
Although some of their belongings were returned, many of the group have complained that they still do not have access to their antiretroviral drugs, asylum papers and other essentials.
The relief comes after the legal team acting for the group of homeless people and the City of Cape Town’s legal representatives have reached a temporary agreement. However, a draft order of the Western Cape High Court admitted that the dispute between the parties remained unresolved and that a court battle would ensue on Tuesday this week.
After their tents were disassembled on Friday, a heavy police presence, backed up by security companies, kept watch over the group and warned them not to pitch their tents again and to move away from the area they have been occupying for months.
The Ndifuna Ukwazi Law Centre has said that they find it ironic that the City has decided to return some of the goods belonging to the homeless, but they are not permitted to erect their tents again. They are arguing that the incident in question constitutes an illegal eviction and they want the court to order that the community may pitch their tents again.
The Law Centre bases their argument on the fact that the 21 people affected by this decision were evicted without a valid court order, which is essential in eviction matters. They have also been vocal about their opinion that City by-laws discriminate against homeless people because it bars them from performing life-sustaining activities like sleeping, camping, resting, bathing, erecting a shelter or keeping personal belongings in public.
A recent study showed that about 14 000 people are currently living on Cape Town’s streets as homeless people.