{"id":52846,"date":"2022-08-02T20:46:03","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T18:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/illegal-occupiers-served-20220801\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T19:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T17:56:30","slug":"illegal-occupiers-served-20220801","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/illegal-occupiers-served-20220801\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal occupiers served"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The City of Cape Town is still in the process of re-establishing ownership of illegally occupied Community Residential Units (CRUs) across the metro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of June, Malusi Booi, Mayco member for human settlements, visited several units that were illegally occupied and issued notices to residents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the illegally occupied units identified, 52 are in the Manenberg area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, the City urged residents who have been identified as being in unlawful occupation of a City unit to visit their local housing office with the requested documentation for them to be considered for normalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe met with the affected residents to provide clarity and guidance to them. To date, our Public Housing Department served 14 notices on unlawful occupants and we carried out 46 visits in the area,\u201d Booi said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Booi told People\u2019s Post<\/em><\/span> that the City had found that many residents who were unlawfully occupying units were either not registered on the City\u2019s Housing Needs Register or have very recent application dates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said this was not fair to those who had been registered for a long time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt effectively takes away opportunities from applicants who have followed the correct procedure of registering on the housing database and who are patiently waiting their turn to be assisted with rental housing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Booi said they could not allow queue jumping to take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt continues a system of informality as unlawful occupiers do not have legal contracts with the City and, therefore, do not pay rent, the latter which is used for maintenance of CRUs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cases are evaluated on a continuous basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Booi, a total of 132 cases were initially flagged by the department as being unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe City issued notices to unlawful occupants in its CRUs across the metro over recent months. The unlawful occupation of City rental units is a transgression which the City, as the landlord, has to deal with as part of its tenancy management,\u201d Booi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City\u2019s reviewed Allocation Policy also provides for residents with permanent disability and medical conditions to be considered for normalisation as the rightful tenants, subject to them meeting qualifying criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the notices having been issued just over a month ago, Booi said due processes were being followed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notice to vacate a City unit is the last resort, and is only served once all options have been explored and applied, he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unlawful occupant refers to a person who in relation to the City\u2019s rental housing stock, is not a family member listed on the City\u2019s tenant family form and who:<\/p>\n\n\n\n