City Of Cape Town puts out tender for private companies to demolish illegal informal structures 

A tender the City of Cape Town published on 15 June, asking for bids from private companies to demolish illegal informal structures, has come under fire.

A briefing session for Bid Number: 308S/2019/20 is due to be held on 25 June in Ndabeni, and the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Cape Town has vowed to challenge the tender.

While the City of Cape Town might very well be correct in law, its proposed action to remove shelters, in winter, in the face of a national catastrophe speaks more to lack of political emotional intelligence and morality.

Reacting to criticism, the City’s mayoral committee member for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi, explained the City issued tenders once every three years for a service provider to assist with “the removal of illegally erected structures in terms of what the South African law allows the City to do”.

Booi said the city had to “uphold the rule of law”, adding it would continue to prevent the occupation of land. 

Booi could not give an indication of the number of illegal and informal structures it envisaged demolishing, saying this depended on the number of invasions that took place.

“Many of the people who are attempting to invade land are claiming that they are being evicted by their landlords. The latter actions by the landlords as alleged would indeed be against the Covid-19 regulations as they stand, but the City is not evicting people,” Booi said.

Asked whether the City had alternative accommodation for those affected by demolitions, Booi said the City acted to “prevent invasions in terms of counter-spoliation or a court order, such as trespassing or an interdict that prevents illegal occupation. The latter are not evictions as defined by the legislation and alternative accommodation is not an automatic option.”

However, Sherylle Dass, regional director of LRC, said that the tender for private demolitions gave the City “a vehicle to implement unlawful and unconstitutional conduct”.

From a legal perspective, the procurement of goods and services falls under Section 217 of the Constitution, the City’s Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and the City’s Supply Chain Management Policy. 

It is also a prerequisite that the tender process be fair, equitable and transparent. Consultation at city council level is also required should a local decision be made.

Xolani Sotashe, leader of the opposition in the City of Cape Town Council, said the tender had not been discussed or tabled.

“It is demeaning and humiliating for a breadwinner, be it a man or a woman, to watch while the homes that they have built, are destroyed with such hate and violence.