The date 17 December 2007 is still clear in the minds of Beverley Davids and other backyard dwellers who were moved to Blikkiesdorp. It was the day that then mayor Dan Plato and councillor Frank Martin promised the backyard dwellers that they would be moving into new homes. But this never happened. 

Beverley Davids at her Blikkiesdorp home. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

Blikkiesdorp is nestled out of sight in Delft, about 25km from Cape Town, and houses an estimated 10,000 people in corrugated iron shacks. It was designated as a Temporary Relocation Area but later became an informal settlement.  

There have been three national and provincial elections since the backyard dwellers were moved to Blikkiesdorp, with no improvement in their living conditions.  

Dreadful day

Davids, one of the founding members of the Blikkiesdorp Joint Committee, spent years on the housing waiting list. In 2007, she heard about a new housing project in Delft and moved as a backyard dweller to Longridge Crescent, Voorbrug.

Davids spoke to Daily Maverick from her informal structure, which she shares with her husband, children and mother. Dust, which enters her home through cracks in the structure, was visible on all her kitchen utensils.

There have been three national and provincial elections since the backyard dwellers were moved to Blikkiesdorp, with no improvement in their living conditions. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

Davids said: “I will never forget 17 December 2007. We were supposed to receive a house. We abandoned our informal structures as backyard dwellers due to promises made to us. We came with our clothes and furniture to Delft’s Voorbrug Hall. More than 800 families arrived at the hall around noon.

“DA councillor Frank Martin told us that we would be receiving our keys. But after 6pm, the crowd began to panic. We knew at the time that the government offices were closed and people were on vacation in December, and the only time we’d see Plato was after the new year.”

When the promised keys failed to arrive, the crowd demanded to know where they should go with their clothes and furniture after they had given up their backyard structures.

Let Hanekom, 43, has six children and is pregnant with her seventh. Juliana Maasdorp (background, on the couch,), 50, has eight children. They are both on the City of Cape Town database and waiting for homes. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

“When I asked the community what they wanted, they shouted to kick open the doors of the unfinished houses in the N2 Gateway. I ran in front of the crowd, shouting, ‘Gryp wat julle benodig [take what you need]’. We kicked open houses at the N2 Gateway and illegally occupied them,” Davids told Daily Maverick.

That didn’t last long. They were evicted and then built informal structures along Symphony Way. They were evicted again and relocated to Blikkiesdorp.

Haven for crime

Since the arrival of gangsters in Blikkiesdorp in 2010, the area has become a haven for crime. Some residents have buried their children who died in crime-related incidents, and rape, murder, drugs and extortion are rampant.

In the run-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, thousands of homeless people were forced off the streets of South Africa to hide the scale of poverty and many of them ended up in Blikkiesdorp.

The crime statistics for July to September 2023 paint a bleak picture, listing Delft as the top murder station in SA, with 80 murders recorded during the three months.  

Crime has skyrocketed in Blikkiesdorp since the 2010 Fifa World Cup. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

A 60-year-old resident told how crime in Blikkiesdorp skyrocketed during the World Cup.  

She said: “In 2007/8, the housing blocks inside the camp were numbered A to H. It has increased to R. We found out that among the newcomers were various gangsters, with the 26s gang taking control over Blikkiesdorp.

“More murders and robberies happened and a lot of women were raped. The selling of drugs affected the entire community and a lot of our children became drug addicts and [started] selling drugs. Spaza shops are forced to pay protection money.”

Another resident claimed a low point was when the 26s gang opened a house where scores of young girls were allegedly drugged and forced into sex work.

“The community finally had the guts to stand up to the 26s gang and tore down this house. Crime was so prevalent and violent that the community started wearing balaclavas to [disguise themselves when taking on the criminals],” he said.

Pensioner Patricia van der Bergh said poverty and unemployment were rife in Blikkiesdorp and in some instances, 10 struggling families lived in a single shack.

“We don’t have exact figures, but there are a lot of people suffering from tuberculosis, and we’ve buried a lot of people who died as a result of it. When is Blikkiesdorp’s pain going to end?” she asked.

Wish list

Topping community leader Shannon Hokim’s wishlist is decent housing, not the “hokkies” they live in; drug rehabilitation programmes, and counselling for adults who have been traumatised by years of empty promises and witnessing crime and violence.

Rape, murder, drugs and extortion are rampant in Blikkiesdorp, say residents. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

Community members said several mayors had visited them and made promises. One notable absence is current Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who they said had not attended community meetings or addressed complaints.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Blikkiesdorp residents frustrated by housing delays

“Mr Mayor, I’m a DA supporter but this continued ‘I don’t care’ behaviour from the DA, and the mayor not visiting Blikkiesdorp will lead me and [other] DA supporters to turn our back on the party on election day,” Davids said.

DA’s comment

Daily Maverick asked the City of Cape Town and the DA to comment on residents’ claims.

Though the city did not respond, Daily Maverick has reported that housing projects for nearly 19,000 people from impoverished communities in the Western Cape have been halted because of extortion and violence, including the murder of a City of Cape Town official at one of the sites.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Cape Town housing beneficiaries despair as violent extortionists delay projects 

Tertuis Simmers, the DA Western Cape leader, gave a broad response that failed to address the Blikkiesdorp issue. 

He said two million people had moved to the Western Cape since 2011, and the Western Cape government and municipalities in the province were spending most of their budgets on infrastructure upgrades to accommodate this large influx of people. 

Housing projects for nearly 19,000 people from impoverished communities in the Western Cape have been halted because of extortion and violence, including the murder of a City of Cape Town official at one of the sites. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

DA Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers said two million people had moved to the Western Cape since 2011, and the Western Cape government and municipalities in the province were spending most of their budgets on infrastructure upgrades to accommodate this large influx of people. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

“Massive National Treasury budget cuts during the 2023/24 adjustment budget — to municipal and provincial grants focused on housing projects and informal settlement upgrade projects — will hamper the DA-run Western Cape’s ability to deliver more housing opportunities to residents in need,” he said. 

“The Western Cape government saw decreases worth more than R214-million and R57-million in its Human Settlements Development Grant and Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant allocations, respectively.” 

He said that over the past decade, the provincial government had created nearly 270,000 housing opportunities for its most vulnerable residents. 

“Since 2017, the Western Cape government has requested the release of 17 properties in Cape Town and 34 properties in non-metro areas, owned by the national government, for the purpose of housing development. The properties stretch from Bo-Kaap and Camps Bay to Paarl and Franschhoek. 

“The provincial government, the City of Cape Town and civil organisations have also been consistent in advocating for well-located national government-owned lands such as Culemborg, Ysterplaat, Wingfield, Denel and Youngsfield to be released by the national government. It’s been estimated that this land could potentially yield 93,000 housing opportunities,” he said.

Read more in Daily Maverick: City of Cape Town to restart massive housing project stalled by extortion and murder

The national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) have previously denied some requests to release land in Western Cape for housing, and when parcels have been released, the Housing Development Agency, which falls under the DHS, has been accused of failing to promptly develop housing projects. DM