On 1 July 2020, the City of Cape Town’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit and metropolitan police forcefully evicted Empolweni residents and demolished shacks in Khayelitsha Cape Town. Footage recorded by a member of the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) on 1 July showed a completed and occupied structure torn down in addition to officers dragging a naked man, Bulelani Qholani, out of his home by officers before destroying it.

In response to queries by the Daily Maverick regarding the 1 July evictions, the City of Cape Town stated that ‘the land in question belongs to the City of Cape Town and the City has conducted various operations to prevent illegal land occupation’, citing the court order which the City interpreted as only allowing 49 households to temporarily remain on the land during the lockdown. The City claimed that these were not forced evictions, but anti-land invasion operations. Whilst the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act prohibits evictions without a court order, the Disaster Management Act stipulates a moratorium on evictions during COVID-19 Alert levels 5, 4 and 3; court order or not. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has subsequently indicated plans to take the City to court over the evictions for contravening the Disaster Management Act and stripping Qholani of his dignity.

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