City of Cape Town

City of Cape Town Law Enforcement accused of harassment. Photo: Ndifuna Ukwazi/ Facebook

City of Cape Town law enforcement accused of harassment

The City of Cape Town Law Enforcement unit has been accused of invading District 6, an area occupied by the displaced and harassed them.

City of Cape Town

City of Cape Town Law Enforcement accused of harassment. Photo: Ndifuna Ukwazi/ Facebook

City of Cape Town Law enforcement has been accused of dehumanizing homeless individuals residing in District 6.

NDIFUNA UKWAZI DETAILS THE INCIDENT

Yesterday, Ndifuna Ukwazi, an NGO advocating for equal opportunities, reported about the shocking incident.

“This [morning] Law Enforcement harassed and burnt the money that belonged to the unhoused community in District 6, this is contempt of a court order that was granted against the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement from conducting such operations in D6,” the organisation reported.

“The unhoused community are victimised by Law Enforcement who also confiscate their belongings. This vile treatment does not help in any way but rather compounds people’s trauma.”

Ndifuna Ukwazi

Ndifuna Ukwazi said this vicious cycle – back-and-forth violence against the unhoused community will not address the root causes of homelessness in the mother city but only moves unhoused people from one place to another, “out of sight, out of mind.”

City of Cape Town
City of Cape Town Law enforcement accused of invading District 6. Photo: Ndifuna Ukwazi/ Facebook

THE ORGANISATION POSE QUESTIONS

“If the City has claimed they will follow the law to evict people and treat them with dignity, then why harass them?” the organisation asked.

The organisation has suggested that the City must work with well-informed organisations and unhoused communities on how homelessness could be resolved. Continually harassing someone who sleeps on the streets and displacing them from the homes they have made does not address the real issue of building suitable alternative housing, like transitional housing.

The organisation put these questions to the City:

  1. Under who’s instructions was Law Enforcement unleashed onto the unhoused?
  2. Contempt of a court order is illegal. Will the City compensate for what they have burnt?
  3. When is the City urgently building more safe spaces & transitional housing?

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CITY OF CAPE TOWN RESPONDS TO THE ALLEGATION

In the City’s response, MMC for Safety and Security JP Smith noted the alleged incident with dismay, treating it as the latest attempt to demonise the City’s Law Enforcement Department.

“As it turned out, all three of the City’s enforcement agencies (Traffic Service, Metro Police Department and Law Enforcement Department), were part of a joint operation with the South African Police Service and the Central Improvement District staff in the CBD on the day in question.
The alleged ‘harassment’ of persons living on the street was, as it turned out, officers doing their jobs and arresting a suspect for drug dealing after receiving information from SAPS Crime Intelligence,” Smith replied.

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