No Justice for Gympie Street!

Woodstock AEC Press Release
Monday 22 June 2009

On the 17th of June, the Cape High Court ruled in favour of Pastor Dennis Robertson, which means many people in Gympie Street are officially homeless. On the weekend only two families in Gympie Street were provided with alternative accommodation arranged by Councillor Shehaam Sims, most were not. This means most of the people that were evicted have not been provided with alternative accommodation, which is blatantly unconstitutional. 

Gympie residents in Cape High Court this evening to have an urgent application heard

Woodstock AEC Press Release

29^th of May, 2009

This evening, Gympie Street residents filed an urgent application at the Cape High Court.

The case was brought before Judge Maqubela in Court #7 and has now been postponed until Thursday 4^th of June at 15h30.

As we have said before, the entire operation was done illegally and without consideration of the PIE Act. This is criminal.

Judge Maqubela proclaimed that he wants to be fair in this trail and was concerned about the lack of official papers authorising the sheriff of the court to enact the eviction.

On behalf of the residents, advocate Omar requested to know on what legal basis does the registrar of the court have the authority to evict people from their houses.

For more information, please contact Willy at 073 144 3619, Margarete at 072 642 7386, and Mr Omar (lawyer) at 082 492 5207

Also see our archive of information on Gympie Street

Poor residents illegally evicted in Woodstock because of City bylaw

Woodstock Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release

Tuesday, 26 May, 2009

Today, just across the road from evicted Gympie Street residents, another illegal eviction took place at 12A Victoria Rd in Woodstock.

This illegal eviction happened without a court order, without the Sheriff of the Court and despite the fact that all residents have continued to pay rent on a consistent basis.

Photos of May 2009 Gympie Street evictions

Media: Gympie residents out on the street

May 22, 2009 Edition 1
ESTHER LEWIS

Source: Cape Argus

GYMPIE Street residents spent their third night sleeping in the street last night after a five-year eviction battle between them and their landlord.

Eleven people who were ordered – in a Cape High Court ruling – to vacate two dilapidated Woodstock houses with broken windows and no water or electricity, ended up in the street on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile the owner of the properties has offered to pay R10 000 a household to help them move.

Josephine Jones begged the owner, Dennis Robertson, to change his mind.

“I was born in this street, so were my mother and my children,” said Jones.

This is not a game!

Gympie St Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release

Friday 22 May, 2009

Event: Gympie residents to meet with Shehaam Sims (Mayco Housing) at 09h00 today

This is not a game! People’s lives are at stake.

Yesterday, Gympie Street resident Lydia Portland passed away. She had a stroke even though she was only in her 50s. While she was not among the two families who were evicted earlier in the week, she was the head of one of the families slated to be illegally evicted next week.

As close friends of Lydia, we are very sad and many of us are wondering if stress from looming eviction might have lead to Lydia’s death.  While we will never know for sure, we assert once again: This is not a game!

Gympie Street Shame – Zille to blame?

by davidrobertlewis

I have just come from Gympie Street where Willie Heyn and his family and their belongings are on the street, forceably evicted by an apartheid-era injustice which continues to play itself out today. With no opportunity given to purchase their home, in which they lived for generations, the Heyn family are now in a scene straight out of Les Misrables as the DA-Lead City continues to protect the landed gentry.

Gympie Street residents illegally evicted and now on the street in front of their homes

Woodstock Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release
Tuesday, 19th May 2009

About 10 residents of Gympie Street were illegally evicted earlier today by the sheriff of the court even though residents won their most recent court case against slumlord Pastor Dennis Roberston.

This was a surprise eviction with no advanced notice. The sheriff of the court was unable to provide a valid eviction order and residents were only given an ‘attachment order’ of and outdated eviction notice. When residents asked why they were being evicted, the sheriff told them that it was because they allegedly failed to appear in court on the 29^th of April (which is untrue, see this press release).

About 7 people are currently camped out on Main Road, Woodstock, on the corner of Gympie Street. While their children have been taken in by their neighbours, they have nowhere else to go and so will stay on the pavement protecting their funiture until their lawyer overturns the illegal eviction. Private security thugs are currently in the homes and have bricked up the door to prevent entry.

Tomorrow, Advocate Zehir Omar will bring an urgent high court application as the landlord is acting stealthily and unlawfully in evicting the Heyn and Petersen families.

For more information, please contact Willy at 073 144 3619, Margarete at 072 642 7386, and Mr Omar (lawyer) at 082 492 5207

Gympie Street residents overcome eviction, again

Woodstock Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release

Gympie Street residents are relieved to finally be free from the stress and trauma of the past few years in which Pastor Robertson has been threatening to evict them. This final case was decided on April 30, 2009 in favour of the defendants.

Gympie Street residents were originally evicted in 2006 but had moved back into different dwellings in the same building. The government along with Pastor Robertson then charged residents with a contempt of court case which residents easily won on the 20^th of November 2008.

This week, in her final judgment, Judge Fredericks argued that the Gympie Street residents’ case was actually already at the high court in 2006. Since the residents had moved into different dwelling in the building, Pastor Robertson and the City of Cape Town could not use an old and invalid eviction order.

Gympie street back in court to defend their homes

Woodstock AEC Press Release

No Land, No Vote Campaign!

—

Who: Gympie Street Residents

When: 7^th April 2009

Where: Cape Town Magistrate’s Court

The children of Gympie Street

In 2006 while we were being forced to live on the pavement – due to evictions – the Mayoral Committee of Housing promised the Gympie Street Residents that they would be given accommodation in old Woodstock Day Hospital after negotiating with Provincial Government. At the same time as this was going on Mrs Zille ignored a personal plea from the children of Gympie Street to address their educational needs, which were being denied due to the fact that they were being forced to live on the pavement and did not have access to proper meals for six weeks. Not long afterwards, once we had moved back into our houses, the City of Cape-Town’s water and electricity departments arrived and removed our water meters and electricity boxes. In doing so, they forced us to live without electricity and use a communal tap to collect water everyday. Through this, Helen Zille and the City of Cape Town have tried to take away our right to water and electricity. We demand that the City reconnect the water in our houses.

Through Mayor Helen Zille’s actions, she is showing that she would be willing to destroy the poor if they stand in the way of her bid to become the next President of South-Africa. Similarly, Pastor Dennis Robertson is willing to destroy a vulnerable community to make money. So all in all between Dennis Robertson and Helen Zille they have tried to take away our right to water, our right to electricity, our right to housing and our children’s right to education. Seeing that according to them we should not have any rights, we are refusing to vote in this year’s elections.

We would like to invite all Social-Movements, Trade Unions, NGO’s, etc, to show solidarity and support us in our bid to reclaim our rights. We also call on them not to vote for any of the parasites that make up the political parties in South Africa.

For more information contact:

Willy (Woodstock Anti-Eviction Campaign) @ 073 144 3619, Margaret @ 072 642 7386, Gary (WCAEC) @ 072 392 5859, Zehir @ 082 492 5207