COCT Threatened With Legal Action If Evictions Not Halted

The Legal Resource Centre has given the City of Cape Town until Monday to respond to their demand to halt all evictions.

If this doesn’t happen, the centre has threatened court action.

This comes after Bulelani Qholani was hauled naked out of his Khayelitsha shack last week.

The city has argued that his structure was among those illegally erected on city-owned land.

However, there has been a widespread outcry over his treatment.

After a video went viral showing how law enforcement manhandled Qholani during an eviction, the community was outraged and took to the streets.

The video has also angered many others, including politicians.

Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the community over the weekend.

He believes there is a lack of accountability within the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement agencies.

“We have a rogue structure here that if it’s not looked upon closely can cause a lot of havoc.”

But the city’s JP Smith rubbished those claims, saying that there were a number of oversight mechanisms in place.

Qholani has now laid criminal charges against the law enforcement officers involved in the operation.

He also wants the relevant city officials to be held accountable.

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato said hat a high court order handed down earlier this year permitted the city to act against land invasion attempts on the site.

EWN