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You are here overseas work Informal economy Anti-eviction in South Africa

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Anti-eviction in South Africa

Country: South Africa |  Partner: Anti-Eviction Campaign

Aims

  • To prevent the evictions of poor people from their land and campaign against the privatisation of essential services
  • To build a network of communities across the Western Cape region that campaign for housing rights and access to basic services
  • To provide quality, community-based education to the poor, with a focus on the connections between local issues and national and global trends

Successes

  • The AEC's community organising has resulted in a moratorium on evictions from council housing
  • The AEC Legal Coordinating Committee has helped members of poor communities access critical social services which they were previously denied
  • The organisation's leadership and educational workshops have provided essential training to hundreds of poor people

The facts

  • According to a recent UN report, South Africa's cities rank as the most unequal in the world
  • 30 percent of people living in Cape Town live in inadequate housing and poor environments
  • In the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup, evictions have increased near World Cup sites and tourist facilities
  • Evictees are being sent to transit camps, where they face appalling conditions and are far from cities and work opportunities

War on Want supports the Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC), a South African organisation working to ensure the provision of vital public services to poor communities. A leading grassroots movement in the Western Cape region, the AEC also addresses the political and economic conditions which keep communities poor.

Although the apartheid system was dismantled over a decade ago, many of the country's economic inequalities remain in the form of privatised utilities and lack of available housing. In Cape Town, the largest city on the Western Cape, over 400,000 people are currently on the waiting list for public housing. Among those in poor communities who have homes, thousands face the threat of eviction and the majority live without basic services such as water and electricity.

Since South Africa was named World Cup host, evictions have increased around World Cup sites, with evictees being dumped in transit camps far from cities. AEC has been working closely with these communities to try prevent evictions, improve conditions in these deplorable camps and hold authorities to account.

The AEC was founded in 2001 to respond to an increase in homelessness and drastic cuts in essential services in poor communities. Developed as a means to inform and mobilise affected communities, the AEC consistently and effectively petitions for adequate public housing, accountable public servants and a halt to the privatisation of basic services. In 2003, the AEC established a Legal Coordinating Committee to provide legal advice and representation to individuals at risk of being evicted from their homes. The AEC also has projects to help communities apply for government assistance and a comprehensive educational programme .. All of its educational projects emphasise the link between issues affecting local communities and national policies and international trends.

The AEC has expanded to having a presence in 25 different communities spanning the Western Cape. To create a unified movement across the region, the AEC highlights the shared problems these communities face – and the ways in which they can collaborate to eliminate them.

War on Want supports the efforts of the AEC in providing a political voice to the poor communities of the Western Cape. We also assist their broader work to combat economic and social inequality in South Africa.

You can read more about the AEC by visiting their website.

Tags: informal economy | overseas work | south africa