The City of Cape Town intends to institute legal action against a Macassar resident resisting eviction from a community rental unit (CRU) after having been ordered to vacate the property due to illegal occupation.
A written notice was issued to Madelynne Abrahams to vacate the property, a flat in the F-block in Nagtegaal Avenue, on Monday 26 September. She was also notified of the order during a meeting the previous week.
“The City met with Abrahams on Tuesday 20 September and confirmed with her that she and the other unlawful occupants of the unit do not qualify for the tenancy in terms of the council’s allocation policy; she is not registered on the Housing Needs Register as per the requirement,” said Malusi Booi, Mayoral Committee member for Human Settlements.
“Abrahams refused to vacate the property by Wednesday 21 September and was given another opportunity to do so on Monday 26 September. A written notice was issued to Abrahams on the day.”
While the City is adamant that Abrahams is an illegal occupant, she maintains she has every right to remain put as she earned it through relatives who occupied the property as tenants. Abrahams claims she’s been living in the unit with the main tenants, her late grandmother and aunt, who passed away just last month, for over 20 years. As surviving occupant, the 39-year-old now resides in the flat with her six-year-old daughter.
“They have no right to put me out on the street. I grew up in this flat, where I took care of my grandmother and aunt, and brought my child home to after she was born,” said Abrahams, who apart from numerous affidavits apparently also possesses accounts and documentation from her daughter’s crèche as proof that she has been residing at the CRU for at least more than two years – among stipulated policy requirements for tenancy to be transferred to a surviving relative in the event of the death of a tenant.
She added that before the main tenants’ deaths, they had approached the local housing office to have the unit transferred to her name numerous times, but to no avail.
However, Booi said Abrahams has unlawfully occupied the unit since the tenant’s death in September. The tenant’s sister, who is also Abrahams’ aunt, advised the City of her death on Monday 12 September and that they would remove the deceased’s belongings that same week. According to City records, the deceased was the sole occupant, confirmed by the sister in an affidavit to the City.
“The tenancy management department was in the process of transferring the vacant ground-floor unit to a qualifying and registered elderly beneficiary on medical grounds, and had already handed her the keys to hang curtains to prevent the unit from being unlawfully occupied,” he related, but failed to answer questions on the allocation process and when it started.
Booi further stated Abrahams, to gain access to the unit, approached the elderly lawful beneficiary on Thursday 15 September, apparently informing her she needed to collect furniture. However, once unlocked, a group of people started carrying furniture into the CRU and unlawfully occupied the unit.
In Abrahams’ version of events, she claims the key was dropped off at the rental office by her aunt without her knowledge on 12 September, with the new tenants allegedly attempting to move in that evening. She initially adhered to the eviction notice and packed her belongings, but returned to the unit on advice of community leaders as she had no alternative accommodation.
“I have nowhere to go. And, while the City has a policy in place, the law states that you cannot just evict someone if they have no alternative accommodation.”
Booi claimed council followed due process in the matter. “Abrahams is not registered on the City’s Housing Needs Register and, as such, was advised to do so to be considered for housing opportunities in future – the applicable [process] that has always existed. All qualifiers of housing opportunities are registered. This is vital to ensure a fair and objective process,” he said.
“The City is taking legal action and will advise Abrahams of her options.”
Community activist Christian Stewart, who has experience with previous evictions, supports Abrahams. He stated that apart from residing with her elderly grandmother for more than two decades, she accompanied the pensioner to the rental office to sign for the unit – this allegedly without ever being asked who resides with her in the flat.
“Surely an elderly person cannot reside in a two-bedroom unit alone, without care. Who does the cooking, hangs the washing and so forth? What’s more, Abrahams was ill-informed on the matter from the get-go and she is not the only person to go through this type of eviction process,” he said.
Stewart implored the City to take the legal route and investigate possible irregularities into the placement of tenants at the local housing office.
Auriel September, secretary of the Greater Macassar Civic Association, said they’ve lodged an appeal in response to the eviction and have advised for further communication between the City and Abrahams.
She added the organisation will not stand for residents’ eviction without alternative accommodation being offered. “Either way, the City remains liable for evictees, who cannot simply be evicted and left homeless,” she said.
