Queer activist collective rejects housing assistance from City of Cape Town

The collective of artists, who are occupying a Camps Bay mansion they booked through Airbnb, say they will not make use of the City of Cape Town’s housing assistance in Philippi as the deadline for their court ordered eviction looms.

On Friday, the Western Cape High Court ruled the collective should vacate the luxury mansion no later than 8 October.

This is the same date the City estimated emergency accommodation would be ready.

The court made the ruling after the collective argued if they were to vacate the mansion, some of them would be homeless.

However, the City made it clear those facing homelessness after their eviction would have to fill in an assessment questionnaire that would help them determine whether they should get housing in Philippi or not.

“There was insufficient time for this process to commence and be finalised, hence no formal assessment process was instituted and there is no formal obligation on the City to provide assistance,” the Mayco member for human settlements, Malusi Booi, told News24.

According to him, the City had not received the completed questionnaires from the group that would enable it to determine whether they qualified for emergency accommodation.

#Weseeyou spokesperson Kelly Eve said they would no longer use the City’s housing accommodation.

“We do not think that the City’s housing is viable for our safety. So no, we will not be using their services.”

The group was ordered to vacate the premises by no later than 12:00pm on Thursday.

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