VZCZCXRO0676
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHTN #0148/01 1680642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170642Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3133
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 6440
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0115
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2153
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 3297

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAPE TOWN 000148 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
AF/S FOR RMARBURG AND MJAMES 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT: N2 GATEWAY/JOE SLOVO EVICTION RULING 
 
¶1. (U)  Summary: On June 10, 2009 the Constitutional Court upheld an 
order of the Cape High Court whereby residents of the Joe Slovo 
informal settlement would be evicted and moved to the more remote 
area of Delft in order to facilitate the building of houses as part 
of the N2 Gateway Project.  The Court, however, added that the more 
than 20, 000 residents who will be evicted must be given alternative 
housing.  End summary. 
¶2. (U)  The N2 Gateway Housing Project is an initiative which was 
started in March 2005 by the three tiers of government, namely the 
National Department of Housing, the Western Cape Provincial 
Government, and the City of Cape Town in an effort to provide 
low-cost housing to the poor.  All three tiers were, at the time, 
controlled by the African National Congress (ANC) and the project 
was managed by the parastatal Thubelisha Homes.  The project aimed 
to develop land on either side of the N2 Highway, but this 
necessitated the eviction of the informal settlement dwellers 
currently on the land.  It was proposed that the residents of the 
Joe Slovo settlement be relocated a considerable distance away from 
their current homes and places of employment to an area on the 
outskirts of Cape Town known as Delft.  In 2008 the Government 
obtained an eviction order in the Cape High Court against the 
residents in terms of  the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and 
Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 (PIE Act).  The residents 
appealed against this order to the Constitutional Court.  In their 
appeal, the residents argued that there was no meaningful 
consultation with them in relation to this project, specifically on 
the criteria for the allocation of housing in the new development as 
well as arrangements for their accommodation during the development 
process.  They also argued that they had the consent of the City to 
reside in the Joe Slovo Settlement, and that this consent was not 
terminated prior to eviction proceedings being implemented. 
Accordingly, they were not 'unlawful occupiers' in terms of the PIE 
Act.  Finally, they raised the unsuitability of relocating to Delft 
and the disruptive impact it would have on their employment 
situation, social support networks and the education of children. 
Argument was heard before the Constitutional Court on 21 August 2008 
and judgment was delivered on 10 June 2009 with the Court upholding 
the earlier eviction order, but insisting that Joe Slovo residents 
be given proper alternative accommodation and that 70% of the 
residents be accommodated in the future new low-cost housing 
development at the N2 Gateway. 
¶3. (SBU)   POL Asst spoke with representatives of the various 
political parties regarding the ruling. Garth Strachan, African 
National Congress (ANC) spokesperson for the Western Cape, said the 
ANC welcomed the ruling and regarded it as a victory for future 
housing projects undertaken by the government. He said the ANC 
accepts and respects the judicial process and the outcome of the 
case and remains committed to the N2 Gateway project.  COPE 
Communications Director, Phillip Dexter, said the court case 
highlighted a larger problem and his party was extremely concerned 
about the slow pace of delivery of essential services.  He indicated 
that if the ANC was delivering what it had promised in past 
elections there would be no need for people to illegally occupy 
land. He said his party would closely monitor ANC delivery goals and 
push for speedy delivery of essential services. He added that COPE 
Qpush for speedy delivery of essential services. He added that COPE 
would focus on these social issues and do everything in its power to 
improve the plight of the poorer communities in South Africa.  The 
Democratic Alliance (DA) MEC for Housing, Bonginkosi Madikizela, 
said that despite inheriting the project from the ANC, his party 
respected the court ruling and would honor the conditions imposed by 
the court.  (Note: The Western Cape Province is no longer in ANC 
control and is now run by the DA as a result of the April 2009 
elections.  End note.)  He said that one of the most important 
lessons the DA can take from the N2 Gateway project is to 
communicate with communities affected by development.  However, he 
warned that illegal occupation of land would not be tolerated by the 
Provincial Government. Madikizela said his party was honor-bound to 
see the N2 Gateway Project to fruition despite the controversy 
surrounding it.  He indicated that the DA has grave concerns over 
many issues surrounding the project and would try its best to find 
alternate solutions to its inherent flaws. 
¶4. (SBU)  The continued failure, both in Cape Town and nationally, 
of government and its designated development agents to fulfill their 
long-repeated promises of affordable formal housing for those living 
in informal settlement shacks is at the root of the Joe Slovo 
crisis, as it is throughout rural and township South Africa.  The 
housing backlog in the Western Cape is 380,000 units and worsens 
every year. The backlog increases by 18,000 units a year, while only 
10,000 houses a year are being built, often resulting in people 
spending more than twenty years on the waiting list for government 
housing. The N2 Gateway project is itself not without controversy. 
Since its launch in 2004, then-Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu's 
flagship project has run into numerous problems with delayed 
delivery, cost over-runs and lack of consultation. One of the major 
criticisms of the project is that it was not conceived to build 
houses or to contribute to solving the Western Cape housing crisis, 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000148  002 OF 002 
 
 
but rather to beautify the margins of the N2 highway before the 2010 
World Cup, thereby eliminating the poor from the sides of the N2 and 
replacing them with more expensive housing.  This case will be a 
significant test case for the rights of poor communities who are 
evicted to make way for housing upgrades. 
La Lime