RESIDENTS from Social Distance squatter camp in Cape Town had their community hall destroyed by law enforcement two weeks ago.
Now they have vowed that they'll never back down.
On Saturday, 21 October, the residents gathered at Gospel Church of Power Ministry for a meeting that included the election of a new committee. They also planned the way forward in rebuilding the hall.
Bongile Baba, the chairman of the Social Distance Informal Settlement Committee, said: “With or without our hall, we are continuing with our programmes. It just annoys us that we have to beg for a space to convene meetings after spending lots of money to build a community hall.”
Baba said events such as community meetings are exactly what the hall was intended for.
“Now we use a church, and we're forced to hold our meetings according to a church schedule. We can't conduct meetings on Sunday or even Saturday late as the church needs to be cleaned for Sunday service," he said.
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The deputy secretary for the committe, Wandile Mfamela, said they spoke to the city and expressed their dissatisfaction with the manner in which their shack hall was demolished.
Residents were left fuming after the law enforcement officials demolished their shack hall on Friday, 13 October.
Many residents were at work and those who were around said the officers didn’t want to hear any explanation when they destroyed their community hall.
Residents claimed that the hall was built three months ago, and it cost them R18 000.
Wayne Dyason, spokesman for the City's Law Enforcement Department, said the hall was demolished in accordance with a court order empowering the city to remove newly built and unoccupied shacks.
"The city was alerted to an unlawful structure erected at Social Distance Informal Settlement, one of the sites unlawfully occupied during the pandemic. Upon investigation, the team found a newly built, unoccupied structure, and action was taken as per the court order to remove it," Dyason said.
