Joe Slovo (Cape Town)
Encyclopedia
Langa, Cape Town
Langa is a suburb found in Cape Town, South Africa. It was established in 1927 interms of the 1923 Urban Areas Act. Similar to Nyanga, Langa is one of the many areas in South Africa that were designated for Black Africans before the apartheid era. It is the oldest of such suburbs in Cape Town and...
. Like many other informal settlements, it was named after former housing minister and Anti-Apartheid activist, Joe Slovo
Joe Slovo
For Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Cape Town, see: Joe Slovo .Joe Slovo was a South African politician, long-time leader of the South African Communist Party , and leading member of the African National Congress.-Life:Slovo was born in Obeliai, Lithuania to a Jewish family who emigrated to South...
. With over 20,000 residents, Joe Slovo is one of the largest informal settlements in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
While they have been fighting for 15 years for their right to live in Langa, the settlement recently fell into prominence when it began to oppose the national pilot housing project of Lindiwe Sisulu
Lindiwe Sisulu
Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu is a South African politician, member of parliament since 1994, member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress and Minister of Housing from 2004 to 2009, and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans since 2009.-Early life:Sisulu was born to ANC...
called The N2 Gateway
N2 Gateway
The N2 Gateway Housing Pilot Project is a large housebuilding project under construction in Cape Town, South Africa. It has been labeled by the national government's former Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as “the biggest housing project ever undertaken by any Government.” Even though it is a joint...
.
Residents have opposed the government's request that they be forcibly removed to Delft
Delft, Cape Town
Delft is a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated next to the Cape Town International Airport, Belhar, Blue Downs & Site C, Khayelitsha. It is known for its high crime rate, substandard schools, lack of jobs, and numerous government built housing projects such as the...
, a new township on the outskirts of the city. After a High Court ruling by controversial judge John Hlophe
John Hlophe
John Mandlakayise Hlophe is Judge President of the Western Cape High Court.-Background and career:...
in favor of the Government, many experts in constitutional law have claimed the ruling to be unjust and against the South African Constitution.
Since then, residents have appealed the decision and taken it to the South African Constitutional Court. In August 2008, about 200 Joe Slovo residents travelled by train, spent the night at the Methodist Church in Braamfontein, and arrived at the Constitutional Court to protest proposed evictions. They were accompanied in solidarity by the Anti-Eviction Campaign as well as residents from Symphony Way
Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers
Symphony Way Informal Settlement is a small community of pavement dwellers that have been living on Symphony Way, a main road in Delft, South Africa, since February 2008...
, an informal settlement that is also in conflict with the government over the N2 Gateway Housing Project
N2 Gateway
The N2 Gateway Housing Pilot Project is a large housebuilding project under construction in Cape Town, South Africa. It has been labeled by the national government's former Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as “the biggest housing project ever undertaken by any Government.” Even though it is a joint...
.
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions is a Geneva-based international non-governmental human rights organisation founded in 1994 by Scott Leckie as a foundation in the Netherlands .-Offices:...
and the Community Law Centre from the University of Cape Town, who joined the case as friends of the court, argue that the mass relocation will significantly impact resident's quality of life.
During the case, constitutional court judges expressed concern over Judge John Hlophe
John Hlophe
John Mandlakayise Hlophe is Judge President of the Western Cape High Court.-Background and career:...
's High Court ruling. Still, judgment has been reserved.
Reports on the N2 Gateway
- 2009 Report on the N2 Gateway by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
- Western Cape Housing Crisis: Writings on Joe Slovo and Delft by Martin LegassickMartin LegassickMartin Legassick is an eminent and world renowned South African historian and a lifelong activist.Legassick was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1940. In 1947 he and his parents emigrated to South Africa. In 1960 he became a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford...
, February 2008
See also
- Symphony Way Pavement DwellersSymphony Way Pavement DwellersSymphony Way Informal Settlement is a small community of pavement dwellers that have been living on Symphony Way, a main road in Delft, South Africa, since February 2008...
- Western Cape Anti-Eviction CampaignWestern Cape Anti-Eviction CampaignThe Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign is a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa...
- N2 GatewayN2 GatewayThe N2 Gateway Housing Pilot Project is a large housebuilding project under construction in Cape Town, South Africa. It has been labeled by the national government's former Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as “the biggest housing project ever undertaken by any Government.” Even though it is a joint...