Joe Slovo is an informal settlement in Langa, and in Milnerton Cape Town. Like many other informal settlements, it was named after former housing minister and anti-

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist,

Joe Slovo Yossel Mashel "Joe" Slovo (23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Com ...

. With over 20,000 residents, Joe Slovo is one of the largest informal settlements in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. While residents have been fighting for 15 years for their right to live in Langa, the settlement recently came into prominence when it began to oppose the national pilot housing project of minister

Lindiwe Sisulu Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu (born 10 May 1954) is a South African politician. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa between April 1994 and March 2023. During that time, from 2001 to 2023, she se ...

called The

N2 Gateway The N2 Gateway Housing Pilot Project is a large housebuilding project under construction in Cape Town, South Africa. It has been labelled by the national government's former Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as "the biggest housing project ever und ...

. Residents have opposed the government's request that they be forcibly removed to

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, a new township on the outskirts of the city. After a High Court ruling by controversial Judge John Hlophe in favor of the Government, many experts in constitutional law have claimed the ruling to be unjust and against the

South African Constitution The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the human rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of th ...

. Since then, residents have appealed the decision and taken it to the South African Constitutional Court. In August 2008, about 200 Joe Slovo residents travelled by train to Johannesburg, spent the night at the Methodist Church in Braamfontein, and arrived the morning early at the Constitutional Court to protest proposed evictions. They were accompanied in solidarity by the Anti-Eviction Campaign as well as residents from

Symphony Way Symphony Way Informal Settlement was a small community of pavement dwellers (shack dwellers who live on the pavement) that lived on Symphony Way, a main road in Delft, Cape Town, Delft, South Africa, from February 2008 until late 2009. They were ...

, an informal settlement that is also in conflict with the government over the N2 Gateway Housing Project. The

Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) was a Geneva-based international non-governmental organisation founded in 1994 by Scott Leckie as a foundation in the Netherlands (Stichting COHRE). Offices At its height in 2008, COHRE maintaine ...

and the Community Law Centre from the University of Cape Town, who joined the case as friends of the court, argued that the mass relocation would significantly impact residents' quality of life. During the case, Constitutional Court judges expressed their concern over Judge John Hlophe's High Court ruling. Still, judgment has been reserved.

Reports on the N2 Gateway

2009 Report on the N2 Gateway
by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
Western Cape Housing Crisis: Writings on Joe Slovo and Delft
by Martin Legassick, February 2008
Housing and Evictions at the N2 Gateway Project in Delft
by Kerry Chance, May 2008

References

{{reflist

External links

Stockpile of information on Joe SlovoJoe Slovo Task Team
Shanty towns in South Africa Squats in South Africa Suburbs of Cape Town

Reports on the N2 Gateway

See also

References

External links