Wallacedene is an informal housing settlement on the eastern outskirts of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The settlement was established during the 1980s when the relaxation of

pass laws In South Africa, pass laws were a form of internal passport system designed to segregate the population, manage urbanization and allocate migrant labor. Also known as the natives' law, pass laws severely limited the movements of not only black ...

allowed rural populations to more readily migrate to urban centres. By 2004, Wallacedene had an estimated population of 21,000 people. The housing rights

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

Irene Grootboom Irene Grootboom (c. 1969 – 2008) was a South African housing rights activist best known for her victory before the Constitutional Court in 2000. The Court found that the government had not met its obligation to provide adequate alternative hous ...

lived in Wallacedene.Muzondo, I.F., Barry, M., Dewar, D. & Whittal, J. 2004
'Land conflicts in informal settlements: Wallacedene in Cape Town, South Africa'
paper presented at International Federation of Surveyors Working Week, Athens, 22–27 May. Retrieved on 14 August 2008. Grootboom and other inhabitants won a

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

ruling in 2000 which stated that they could not be evicted without being offered alternative accommodation.

References

{{City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality Shanty towns in South Africa Slums in South Africa Suburbs of Cape Town Housing in South Africa