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Joe Slovo, Cape Town

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Joe Slovo at Cape High Court
Joe Slovo at Cape High Court

Joe Slovo is an informal settlement in Langa, Cape Town. Like many other informal settlements, it was named after former housing minister and anti-Apartheid activist, Joe Slovo. With over 20,000 residents, Joe Slovo is one of the largest informal settlements in South Africa.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 called The N2 Gateway.Residents have opposed the government's request that they be forcibly removed to Delft, 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.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, an informal settlement that is also in conflict with the government over the N2 Gateway Housing Project.The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions 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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Joe Slovo, Cape Town (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -33.951944444444 ° E 18.534166666667 °
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7455 , Cape Town Ward 52
Western Cape, South Africa
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Joe Slovo at Cape High Court
Joe Slovo at Cape High Court
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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 undertaken by any Government." Even though it is a joint endeavour by the National Department of Housing, the provincial government of the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town, a private company, Thubelisha, has been outsourced to find contractors, manage, and implement the entire project. Thubelisha estimates that some 25,000 units will be constructed, about 70% of which will be allocated to shack-dwellers, and 30% to backyard dwellers on the municipal housing waiting lists. Delft, 40 km outside of Cape Town, is the main site of the Project.The N2 Gateway is a highly controversial project and has been criticised by the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, by the South African Auditor General, by popular organisations such as the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, by Constitutional Court experts such as Pierre De Vos and by affected residents themselves. Its detractors claim that the N2 Gateway is a beautification project for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They cite government documents prioritising the development in light of its visibility near to the Cape Town Airport. They also cite the mass evictions that have taken place moving shackdwellers off the N2 corridor into Delft.The South African government has stated that 14,000 homes housing 70,000 people at a cost of R2 billion was delivered by 2015.

Epping, Cape Town

Epping is an industrial area of Cape Town that is situated to the south of Thornton, east of Pinelands and north of Langa. Epping Industria was first developed in the late 1940s. Industrial development was initially slow and in the early 1950s the circular Gunners Circle was used as a race track for cars. When industrial development picked up in the late 1950s the racing was stopped. The completion of the Athlone Power Station close by assisted in the proliferation of industrial businesses into the area in the mid 1960s. Epping Industria is the largest and most centrally situated industrial area in greater Cape Town. Its proximity to the major roadways and the availability of most forms of public transport make it an extremely sought after location for business. The area hosts a number of companies involved in the textile, automotive, logistics, construction and food processing industries. Nampak, Africa's largest packaging company, is one of the largest companies to have operations in Epping. Other large companies in Epping Industria are Distell Ltd, AVI Ltd and Afrox. The Cape Town Market is one of the oldest and largest fresh produce markets in South Africa. It is over 50 years old and services over 5500 producers delivering fresh produce to market agents, who in turn sell the fresh produce to over 8000 registered buyers. Epping Industria is managed by the Epping Community Improvement District (ECID) whereby all owners contribute to the operating costs of the ECID. The ECID assists the City of Cape Town to look after aspects such as cleaning, security, emergency management and traffic management.