Cape Town - The City of Cape Town says it has noted the continued unlawful occupation of the area around the Castle, including the main applicant in a matter brought before the high court.
The City also reiterated that the offer of shelter still stands for the unlawful occupants.
More than 20 occupants received notices for various offences while some received R1000 fines for littering and dumping last month.
This as the City and Ndifuna Ukwazi’s legal representatives agreed to a draft order, which was adopted during court proceedings on Wednesday.
The City said the agreed court order included an interdict regarding the use of the Streets and Coastal by-laws to effect evictions, which it said has no legal effect as it does not use these by-laws for the purpose of evictions, which are governed by the PIE Act.
A social assessment of those unlawfully occupying the Castle precinct was previously completed and alternative shelter at Safe Spaces and shelters was offered, the City said.
It further said it reserved the right to, in due course, institute legal proceedings in line with the law on unlawful occupations.
Ndifuna Ukwazi previously said the abuse of the streets by-law to harass, intimidate and forcefully evict unlawful occupiers, and the sustained challenge to the by-law by poor and street-based communities should signal a clear alarm call to the City that this by-law was morally and legally indefensible.
It condemned the actions of the City’s Law Enforcement unit and related “divisive tactics”.
In our view, the City’s current approach to people experiencing homelessness is fundamentally at conflict with the Constitution, which protects everyone from unlawful evictions,” the organisation said.
It said these by-laws provide an unprecedented power to law enforcement to act outside the Constitution and remove, criminalise and fine the poor.