Woodstock residents shocked by prospect of life in Wolwerivier

“There’s no church, no school, no clinic, no police station, no shopping mall or a community hall … We had to fight to get the street lights put up last year,” said Wolwerivier resident Nowongile Swebe, a community leader.

Swebe was speaking to a group of people who are facing eviction from an apartment block in Albert Road, Woodstock, and others who have already been evicted from elsewhere in the suburb. They all face relocation to Wolwerivier. The Woodstock residents, supported by housing activist organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi, were visiting Wolwerivier last week to see first-hand what life would be like in the settlement.

Swebe previously lived in the Skandaalkamp informal settlement a few kilometres away. She was among the first 280 families to be moved into Wolwerivier, the City of Cape Town’s temporary relocation area (TRA), in July 2015.

The Woodstock group are currently in court to oppose the City’s offer to relocate them either here or to Blikkiesdorp in Delft. The City, in a report to the Magistrates’ court, said Wolwerivier was the only emergency housing it had to offer the residents. The matter is expected to continue in court on Tuesday.

Swebe took the group on a brief tour of her one-roomed unit which she shares with ten relatives. “The City made many promises but didn’t do anything. The ambulance takes a long time to get here. The mobile clinic that comes once a month is only for children. If you don’t have money for a taxi or ask a neighbour with a car to take you to the doctor, then you’ll just have to die here,” she said.

Swebe said the community relied heavily on the assistance offered by Nikki Pretorius, the owner of the only crèche in the TRA.

Another Wolwerivier resident, Sindy Blaai, warned that the community was likely to reject “more outsiders” being relocated to Wolwerivier because of the already overcrowded conditions.

Blaai and several other households relocated to Wolwerivier from Blikkiesdorp in September 2015. This came after racial tensions erupted in the predominantly coloured TRA, forcing out Xhosa residents. Their relocation to Wolwerivier was met with violent protests as well. Central to the dissatisfaction of many former Skandaalkamp families has been the issue of overcrowding.

Since then, the community’s relationship with the City has been tense. “There was a conflict when the City brought us here, all because they didn’t communicate with the leadership in the community. We struggled here for a long time. They [the residents] told us they didn’t want us in Wolwerivier. If there was a job in the area, the people wouldn’t allow us to benefit. We had to sort it out on our own,” Blaai told the Woodstock group.

“There are no empty houses in Wolwerivier. There are people still waiting for units. So if they are going to bring people from outside and put up more structures, there will be more conflict,” she said.

One of the Woodstock occupants, Desiree Ling, said, “I feel for those who already live here. I wonder if one of them [City councillors] would come and live here. It’s very sad. Children have nowhere to play; there’s nothing for them to do here. How will we get to work?”

Delia Fielies, also from Woodstock, said, “The City should be shamed for wanting to put us in the middle of nowhere. There’s no recreational facilities for children here. There is no privacy in these homes. I only have boys living with me. Does this mean I must now wash myself in front of my grandsons? I refuse to come and live here. I would have to sell most of the furniture I worked so hard for because my things would never fit [in].”

Nkosikhona Swaartbooi of Ndifuna Ukwazi said, “There is the potential that there might be new residents moving in yet again. This is what the City is pushing and we want the court to know about these dynamics. The issue of overcrowding in Wolwerivier has not been resolved.”

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