Court grants eviction order for foreign nationals at Wingfield Tent and Paint City

Residents have welcomed the Western Cape High Court order granting the City and national Departments of Home Affairs and Public Works & Infrastructure permission to serve notices of eviction to foreign nationals living at the Wingfield Tent and Paint City sites in Kensington and Bellville respectively. 

The Kensington/Factreton Residents and Ratepayers Association said the removal of the tent and its occupants would address various concerns including crime.

“The KenFac Ratepayers Association welcomes the eviction order and hopes that the refugees living in the Wingfield white tent will be safely integrated into proper communities,” they said.

“From the start, the tent was a symbol of neglect and betrayal, promised as a temporary solution during the pandemic for the homeless refugees, but instead left standing five years later.

“The site has since contributed to growing informal settlements, created health and safety concerns, and turned a key access point along Voortrekker Road into an environmental eyesore.

“Kensington and Factreton should not be treated as dumping grounds for problems that affect the broader city. It is time for the tent to be removed.”

The City said the eviction will be carried out in accordance with the court order and the Sheriff of the court.

The City, together with the national departments, announced its intention to bring the eviction notice in June. 

The foreign nationals were initially relocated to the sites under Covid-19 Level 5 lockdown emergency regulations.

The City said at the time, the foreign nationals cited fears of xenophobia and demanded relocation to Europe or Canada, which was not lawfully possible.

Earlier, the City revealed its upkeep has cost the State, including the Departments of Home Affairs, R28 million for maintenance.

The sites together have close to 340 occupants, with nationalities ranging from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 150 documented and 190 undocumented persons.

Paint City measures approximately 29 000m² and has a marquee tent of 960m² while Wingfield measures 133 616 m² and has a marquee tent of 2 000 m².

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis explained the process going forward: “This joint application aims to restore these sites to their original public use and to bring an end to the undignified conditions for the sake of the unlawful occupants and the general public, as these sites have generated a great deal of public complaints, including traffic, crime and waste challenges.”

He said multiple offers of assistance were made by the Departments of Home Affairs, United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, NPOs, and the City, to reintegrate and repatriate the foreign nationals, with hundreds of people having taken up these opportunities following assessment operations. 

“The demands of remaining unlawful occupants for relocation to Europe or Canada can never lawfully be met, nor can the state continue to bear expenses related to these sites, which were never intended to provide permanent accommodation, but rather temporary shelter during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Hill-Lewis. 

“Many, if not all of the respondents are in family units and meaningfully engaged in self-sustaining economic activity while remaining in unlawful occupation with the aim of leveraging this for repatriation to first-world countries."

Public Works & Infrastructure Minister, Dean Macpherson, has welcomed the authorisation of the eviction notice.

“This ruling demonstrates the importance of collaboration between national and local government," he said.

"Together with the City and the Department of Home Affairs, we have taken a decisive step towards restoring these sites and ensuring that state-owned assets are protected and used for the benefit of the public.

“The rule of law will be enforced. No person has the legal right to unlawfully occupy state land or to claim public buildings and land as their own. It is our responsibility to return these properties to their intended purpose so they can contribute to the upliftment of our communities.”

He stressed that the evictions will help relieve his office of the millions of rands in costs paid each month to maintain tents and facilities at the sites, freeing up funds for essential infrastructure and service delivery. 

Ward councillor in Kensington, Cheslyn Steenberg, also called on residents to be part of the process and to keep themselves informed.

Earlier, when news broke of the eviction, the refugees said the plans to evict them were against their human rights and that they continued to live in squalor and that their tent was damaged, in what they believed was an attack.

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