Cape Town Community Housing Finally meets its match!

Five families in Newfields Village face their verdict for their evictions on the 10/06/2010 (on the day the opening ceremony of the World Cup 2010 will be held).

Background

In 1994 President Nelson Mandela promised to build one million houses and accordingly the City of Cape Town and the National Housing Finance Company (NHFC) tried to make this dream a reality for the poorest of the poor by forming a Section 21 Company called Cape Town Community Housing Company. Eight years ago CTCHC started to build the worst houses in the history of our country with both latent and patent defects. Accordingly, the residents of the nine villages (Newfields Village, Hanover Park Phase 1, 2 and 3, Luyoloville, East Ridge, Woodridge, Manenberg (Tornado Victims) and Phillipi) went on a rental boycott, had marches to the Company, they occupied their administration office, they handed over numerous memorandums of demands and even occupied the administration building in Tijger Valley. The company changed directorship, because of bad management of fances and the pressure from the different communities. All that the community wants is to honour the original understanding and agreements made that they will get a subsidized houses and pay-off the balance over four years with affordable rental.

Because of the struggle for their own homes, unjust administrative action as well as legal action in the form of eviction applications by the Cape Town Community Housing Company.

The Company, because of the bad Installment Purchase Agreement (IPA) have attempted to reformulate the original contract by calling the new contract The Affordability Programme. As a result, all the families have attempted to unknowingly sign this proposed contract with the goal of saving the bad houses, paid by their own subsidies, that they made their homes.

Many families evictions’ are being sort by the Company, but the families have managed to secure the assistance of an attorney as well as an advocate and have through them presented their case in the Wynberg Magistrers Court. We are going back to Wynberg Court together will all the affected communities on the 10th of June 2010.

We will attach our heads of argument to this press release so that everybody in South Africa and the World can see what the struggles have been about for the past eight years.

For more information, please contact:

Gary: 0723925859

Ashraf: 0761861408

Attorney: Mr. S. Parker

Read more here - Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign