After weeks of land occupation protests, Cape Town was unusually quiet on Tuesday morning. While communities remain frustrated in their demand for housing and land, the City of Cape Town has announced it is taking a “zero tolerance approach” to land occupations.
A priority committee is set to be established within the South African Police Service (SAPS) to deal with land protests after city officials requested more action to curb protest action.
In the past two weeks, land occupations have been organised in Vrygrond, Parkwood, Mitchell’s Plein, Gugulethu and Ocean View. In total, the city says it knows of 34 areas where land and housing protests have taken place.
In Vrygrond, land occupation began in April. By mid-May, the protest action had spread 8km north to the nearby community of Parkwood, where residents occupied a field in a similar demand for housing.
Since then, protests have been continuing simultaneously over the past two
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