Report on Lwandle evictions will be studied

Commission of Inquiry Chairman, Denzil Potgieter has recommended some changes to existing legislation on evictions after the Lwandle inquiry concluded its hearings. Image: WN

The Commission of Inquiry Chairman, Denzil Potgieter, and other members of the commission handed over a 296-page report to Sisulu during a media briefing at the Imbizo Centre in Cape Town.

The inquiry was concluded at the end of September after public hearings that lasted until mid-July. During a winter night in June, 800 families in Lwandle were evicted from an illegally-occupied land.

"I intend to study this report and give it to the Ministers other parties involved in the evictions, including the City of Cape Town and the South African National Roads Agency Limited.

Advocate Denzil Potgieter said while the inquiry enjoyed great public support, the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town did not cooperate.

"It is to be noted that the refusal by the government of the Western Cape - the Provincial Department of Human Settlements and the City of Cape Town in particular - to participate in the public hearings has hampered the work of the inquiry.

"We are confident that having had public hearings, with oral presentations has enriched the work of the inquiry," Potgieter said.

Potgieter recommended that some amendments were needed to the existing legislation for evictions and illegally occupied land. He also recommended that a forensic audit of the housing waiting list in the Western Cape be undertaken.