Joint Committee of Phase 2 in Blikkiesdorp
7 May 2010

Three families have been living homeless, freezing weather, rain and all, at the gates of Blikkiesdorp for over 10 nights now.

These families were evicted recently from backyards where they used to live in Delft. They came to Blikkiesdorp looking for a tin because they have nowhere else to go. Since the City of Cape Town will not accommodate them inside Blikkiesdorp, they have occupied some land at the entrance to the Phase 2 section of the TRA.

Recently, community representatives met with the City and the families. But the City refused to help the families. They are saying there is nothing they can do for them because all the structures in the TRA are already occupied.

However, as residents of Blikkiesdorp, we know this is a lie. There are scores of empty structures all over Phase 2. We realise that the City is lying to use because they are saving those structures for other people they plan to evict in the next few months in time for the World Cup. They intend on moving refugees into Blikkiesdorp and other people who are being evicted throughout the city.

In this same meeting with city, officials claimed that Blikkiesdorp is for people with nowhere else to go. We ask, how can homeless people sleeping in the cold and rain for over 10 nights not be considered vulnerable enough for emergency housing. No one would sleep for so long with their families in this kind of weather unless they were truly desperate ad had no alternatives.

So, we want the people all over Cape Town to know that these families are being ignored. We have realised that Blikkiesdorp is not a place for people who are already vulnerable and homeless. It is rather a place to dump people who the City make vulnerable and homeless through their recurring World Cup-related evictions.

Contacts:
Sandy 074450114
Jane 0742384236
Badru 0728228109