In 2009, the Anti-Land Invasion Unit was created by the City of Cape Town in an effort to stop people from illegally attempting to occupy land.City’s anti-land invasion unit to stop land grabs , City of Cape Town Press Statement, 2009 In 2011 the City stated that the unit demolished about 300 shacks each month.Cape Town anti-land invasion unit acting illegally, say rights lawyers, Pambazuka News, 2011 The Anti-Land Invasions Unit is the biggest unit in the City's law enforcement operation.Anti-land invasion unit (ALI) City of Cape Town website, undated entry
Unlawful actions by the Unit
When the unit was founded its director, stated that:
However, according to Sheldon Magardie of Lawyers for Human Rights the unit "is acting unlawfully". According to Magardie:
In May 2013 an article in The Daily Maverick claimed that the unit had acting illegally by evicting people from the Marikana Land Occupation without a court order and that City officials were justifying this in terms of a non-exist law and by lying about shacks that the unit had demolished being unoccupied.City of Cape Town makes up law to justify eviction of the poor, Jared Sacks, The Daily Maverick, 6 May 2013 Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos later wrote that these evictions were "Brutal, inhumane, and totally unlawful"Cape Town evictions: Brutal, inhumane, and totally unlawful, Pierre de Vos, The Daily Maverick, 9 May 2013
Public criticism
Allegations of both violence and theft have been made against the unit by grassroots activistsBackyarders Injured in Anti-Land Invasion Demolition, by FADELA SLAMDIEN, West Cape News, 7 JUNE 2011Sleeping in the rain: even snakes treat us with more respect than the City of Cape Town, Abahlal baseMarikana Press Statement, 4 May 2013 and in the media.'Shock and awe tactics' used on shack dwellers, Jared Sacks, Mail & Guardian, 10 May 2013 It May 2013 it was reported that the unit demolished a pre-school in Langa under questionable circumstances.In Langa, Cape Town: A dark combo of housing corruption & police brutality, by Jared Sacks, The Daily Maverick, 8 May 2013Pre-school closes as City demolishes Langa community hall, Nombulelo Damba, West Cape News, 9 May 2013 The People's Assembly has called for the unit to be disbanded.People's Assembly Land, Race and Nation Conference declaration , Amandla Magazine, June 2013
See also
Homelessness in South Africa Department of Human Settlements Informal housing Public housing Economy of South Africa
Notes and references