The Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment in the eviction case of 46 homeless people in District Six, whose structures were forcibly destroyed by law enforcement officials two weeks ago.

The legal team for the City of Cape Town argued that it had offered them alternative accommodation in Philippi and it would return the shelters that were removed from them.

Legal counsel Roseline Nyman told the court when law enforcement officials arrived at the scene, there were 60 people at the site.

According to a News24 report, Nyman said 17 confiscation notices were issued to the homeless people.

Justice Rosheni Allie questioned whether the city had any inventory in place to indicate which items and property were removed to which Nyman responded that there was no inventory. Ranjan Jaga, one of the lawyers representing the group, said that while the country was in a national state of disaster, the city was removing people from their homes.

‘The city must be considerate of the supreme law of this country and the Constitution of the country as well as the Disaster Management Act,’ Jaga said.

Full News24 report