Sisulu: WC Not Adhering To COVID-19 Guidelines On Evictions

Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said that the Western Cape was still not adhering to disaster management guidelines when it came to evictions.

Sisulu was responding to an eviction in Khayelitsha last week which saw a man booted from his shack while he still naked.

The incident caused an uproar and led to the suspension of four law enforcement officers.

Sisulu was briefing the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) about her department’s response to COVID-19.

The minister said that all provinces were prohibited from evicting people, according to national coronavirus command council guidelines.

But this hasn’t stopped the City of Cape Town from demolishing illegal structures erected in a Khayelitsha community.

“And we have found sadly that the Western Cape has not adhered to this regulation that is in our national command council guideline regulations.”

Mayor Dan Plato defended the evictions when he appeared before Parliament, saying that the invaded land was earmarked for housing.

Sisulu said that her department would now move quickly to relocate people from informal settlements to less densified housing.

“The provinces of the Western Cape and Gauteng are now experiencing the severest COVID-19 incidenst and we are wanting to target those and make sure that we can move them into proper housing at the earliest possible time.”

EWN