The High Court has authorized the eviction of over 350 foreign nationals from two unlawfully occupied sites in Cape Town, marking a significant development in a long-running and complex situation that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Cape Town, along with the national Departments of Home Affairs and Public Works, was granted permission to serve eviction notices. This follows years of efforts to resolve the unlawful occupation after official government and United Nations processes concluded.
The individuals were initially relocated to the two sites under Level 5 lockdown emergency regulations after being evicted from Green Market Square and the Central Methodist Church. They had cited fears of xenophobia, and some within the community had demanded relocation to countries like Canada or those in Europe.
According to the city, hundreds of foreign nationals who lived at the camps have since accepted support to either reintegrate into South African communities or be repatriated to their countries of origin. However, a group of over 350 people have refused all forms of assistance.
“The city has repeatedly, over many years dating back to the COVID lockdown, made efforts to assist these foreign residents with reintegration. All of which have been declined and denied and refused,” a city representative stated. “And so now the only option is that they have to be evicted from those sites and unfortunately probably will also need to be deported out of South Africa back to their country of origin.”
Those remaining at the sites express profound fear and a sense of impossibility regarding their options. In emotional interviews, they stated that returning to their home countries or former communities is not a viable choice due to safety concerns.
“We don’t want to go back to our country because we run away from our country. How we can go back where we run away?” one occupant said. “In the community, we can’t even go back because we are not safe there… We just ask them if they can help us to take us wherever, any country we can be safe. We didn’t mention we want this, we want that. No, we want to go anywhere we can be safe.”
Facing imminent eviction and potential deportation, some conveyed a feeling of hopelessness. “If they force me to go to my country, that’s a diff[erent thing]. They are killing me. It’s fine. But I can’t choose to go to die in the community or to go to die wherever… I need a life for my own, my family,” another individual said.
The conditions at one of the sites, known as the Paint City camp, have been described as appalling. The city emphasized that while an eviction notice will be served, the physical process of removing people from the site could take some time.
The city credited the legal progress to its push for the Departments of Home Affairs and Public Works—identified as the responsible authorities—to take action. The goal is to restore the sites for public use and address the “deterioration and urban decay” currently present.
The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has welcomed the court’s decision. It stated that the millions of rands paid monthly to maintain tents at the facilities would be redirected to other urgent public needs once the sites are cleared.
