Evictions at Irene Grootboom House halted after housing activists make successful court bid
About 30 illegal occupants living at the Darling Street building gathered outside the Western Cape High Court to challenge being booted from the site.
A group of about 60 pensioners illegally occupying the Irene Grootboom House in Cape Town’s Darling Street, gathered outside the Western Cape High Court on Thursday, 19 June 2025, to challenge being evicted from the site. Picture: Carlo Petersen/EWN
CAPE TOWN - An eviction at Irene Grootboom House in District Six was halted on Thursday after housing activists, Ndifuna Ukwazi, made a successful court bid.
About 30 illegal occupants living at the Darling Street building gathered outside the Western Cape High Court to challenge being booted from the site.
Inside court, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure sought an urgent eviction for the occupants to vacate the property.
The court ordered government officials to meaningfully engage with the occupants to find alternative accommodation.
One of the occupants, 73-year-old Barrymore Jossie, said the pending eviction feels like apartheid all over again.
"If there is ubuntu in this country, then why don't the government show it to us? If we are one, then give us a fair share."
The matter will be back in court on 25 July.