Cape Town - Non-profit organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) commenced its three-month long Advice Assembly aimed at educating people facing evictions about their rights and to safeguard against unfair practices and evictions.
The free two-and-half-hour long workshops, which commenced on April 26, will take place every Wednesday from 6pm until 8.30pm until July 12 at Bertha House in Mowbray.
The workshops are open to tenants, landlords and occupiers, including anyone concerned around these matters, such as community-based organisations which are often called on to assist.
The land and housing activist organisation and law centre places emphasis on the dissolution of spatial apartheid through increased access to land and dignified housing, particularly in well-located areas close to economic hubs.
The Advice Assembly is an educational community programme to assist in understanding the laws related to evictions and equip people with the legal and political knowledge to resist unjust evictions.
The first Advice Assembly was established in 2017 in collaboration with Reclaim the City.
NU popular educator Kyla Hazell said: “It began in Woodstock where many families were facing eviction as rentals and property rates in the area rocketed due to rampant gentrification.
“Our work in Sea Point had also revealed a spate of evictions as developers sought to profit from the neighbourhood’s swift increase in general property values.”
The activist organisation said an eviction cannot be carried out without an eviction order from a court, as indicated in the Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, 1998 (PIE Act) and that the courts must consider whether an eviction order will render the person homeless if granted.
In a statement released, NU director Adi Kumar said: “Evictions are a humiliating and traumatic experience. But they are also avoidable, expensive and ineffective in dealing with the housing crisis.
“Providing this information to the public is part of our intention to empower the public on their legal rights, which are often abused by landlords or local governments.”
To attend, confirm attendance by contacting NU directly on Facebook or Whatsapp on 065 993 1324 or call NU offices on 021 012 5094.
A light supper will be provided to participants and child care services will be limited.