Cape Town - After returning home from Ghana and living with a relative in Manenberg for the past year, Yolande Barry said she has been forced to live on the streets with her 7-year-old son after a dispute with the City and a tenant that has been living on her premises.
Barry has been living out of her car with her son since Friday and said this was the result of the City delaying the relocation of the tenant, Sandy Delport, from her property which she inherited after her parents’ passing in Silvertown, Athlone.
This was despite a court order instructing the tenant to vacate the premises on September 30. She said they have been living in her car since that night and that they have not even been able to bathe since that Friday.
In court papers seen by the Cape Argus, Wynberg Magistrate’s Court ruled that Delport and anybody occupying through her be evicted from the property and that they should vacate on or before September 9.
However, Barry said that the City thereafter asked for an extension until September 30 but this date had come and gone with Barry still not able to go to her property.
“I feel the system has failed me as a mother in need and as a home owner. As I spoke to the people involved, I found no compassion. I was referred to the Department of Social Services in Athlone on Tuesday for assistance with a shelter, but all I heard them say was that my child must be safe and separated from me,” Barry said.
City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said the City requested an extension as there were no vacant units available at the Bosasa Temporary Relocation Area (TRA) by the court ordered eviction date.
Tyhalibongo said the tenant agreed to accept the allocation of one of the
City’s Bosasa TRA units and that it was in the process of assisting both Barry and the tenant.
Delport explained: “I know I must move out and that this is now her (Barry’s) house.
“I am very grateful that the City is helping and relocating me to a new place. She (Barry) is in a hurry to move in but I do not have a choice but to wait for the City’s relocation.”