ANOTHER 100 Hout Bay families are facing a new round of evictions by the City of Cape Town.
The families live in the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement, just a few kilometres from Hangberg, where the city's bid to evict people two weeks ago turned into a violent clash with police.
The new wave of evictions affect families living in 100 shacks built on ground above a water pipe. The pipe was connected to a reservoir on the mountain and supplied Hout Bay with water, city media manager Kylie Hatton told Sowetan.
The families are refusing to move and say the city is merely "bowing to pressure from the Hout Bay Residents Association, who do not want to live alongside blacks.
They also accuse the city of trying to "bring back xenophobia by sowing division" between locals and foreigners living in the community.
This because of a rumour that the city is going to evict only "foreigners".
Hatton said the residents' allegations were "groundless and absolutely unacceptable". She claimed that they were being moved for their own safety because if the water pipe burst, endangering lives, the city would be held accountable.
The foreigners who were set to be removed were part of the residents living in the 100 shacks, she said.
But resident Lungisa Benzile said white people in the affluent greater Hout Bay valley were pushing the city to "remove us because they don't want to live alongside black people".
"They (whites) don't want us to be here. They don't want to be close to black people. Now they are pushing the city to remove us.
"The community is angry. What happened in Hangberg is going to happen here if they try to remove people.
In a statement the ANC slammed the city on the matter, saying Premier Hellen Zille's DA-led government only wanted "allow the rich to buy, stay in and use this valuable harbour village".
New threat of evictions in Cape
ANOTHER 100 Hout Bay families are facing a new round of evictions by the City of Cape Town.
The families live in the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement, just a few kilometres from Hangberg, where the city's bid to evict people two weeks ago turned into a violent clash with police.
The new wave of evictions affect families living in 100 shacks built on ground above a water pipe. The pipe was connected to a reservoir on the mountain and supplied Hout Bay with water, city media manager Kylie Hatton told Sowetan.
The families are refusing to move and say the city is merely "bowing to pressure from the Hout Bay Residents Association, who do not want to live alongside blacks.
They also accuse the city of trying to "bring back xenophobia by sowing division" between locals and foreigners living in the community.
This because of a rumour that the city is going to evict only "foreigners".
Hatton said the residents' allegations were "groundless and absolutely unacceptable". She claimed that they were being moved for their own safety because if the water pipe burst, endangering lives, the city would be held accountable.
The foreigners who were set to be removed were part of the residents living in the 100 shacks, she said.
But resident Lungisa Benzile said white people in the affluent greater Hout Bay valley were pushing the city to "remove us because they don't want to live alongside black people".
"They (whites) don't want us to be here. They don't want to be close to black people. Now they are pushing the city to remove us.
"The community is angry. What happened in Hangberg is going to happen here if they try to remove people.
In a statement the ANC slammed the city on the matter, saying Premier Hellen Zille's DA-led government only wanted "allow the rich to buy, stay in and use this valuable harbour village".
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