Judgment has been reserved in the case where Reclaim the City (RTC) and Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) returned to the Western Cape High Court to argue against the the Province and the Cityâs applications to appeal against the âTafelberg judgment before the Supreme Court of Appeal. Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Judgment reserved in Tafelberg appeal hearing
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Cape Town - A high court judge has said the provincial government is split on the Tafelberg issue between a faction that wants change but keeps being rebuffed by a faction that wants to retain the status quo.
Judge Patrick Gamble was speaking during a hearing at which Reclaim the City (RTC) and Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) returned to the Western Cape High Court to argue against the Province and the Cityâs applications to appeal against what is now known as âthe Tafelberg judgmentâ before the Supreme Court of Appeal.
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It is unclear how much emergency housing the Drakenstein Municipality has created since 2012 when it first acknowledged the escalating crisis of tens of thousands of farmworkers facing eviction in the region. This was part of the argument raised by advocate Peter Hathorn, who represented a Wellington farm dweller in the Western Cape high court on Monday.
Eric Lolo, who faces eviction, brought the case on behalf of himself and other evictees in the area. The purpose of the court hearing is to hold the municipality to account for the manner in which it implements its emergency housing plan.
Hathorn previously argued that the municipality breached its constitutional and statutory obligations by not taking reasonable steps to provide emergency housing for evicted farm dwellers living within its area of jurisdiction.