On 27 April 2013, the national public holiday of Freedom Day in South Africa which some grassroots social movements have termed UnFreedom Day, members of Abahlali baseMjondolo occupied a piece of land in Philippi, Cape Town. They named the occupation Marikana after the Marikana miners' strike. The occupation was repeatedly destroyed by the city's anti-land invasion unit.[1][2][3][4] According to the Daily Maverick the occupiers were evicted on six separate occasions.[5] Two months after the eviction 90 people were still sleeping on the site under a tent.[6]
Cindy Ketani was quoted in Red Pepper as saying that "When they come to destroy these shacks, they show us no court orders or papers. They just pull these people out like dogs".[7]
Unlawful Evictions
Abahlali baseMjondolo alleged that the evictions were violent, that their members' property was broken and stolen and that they were also unlawful as the City did not have a court order.[8][9][10][11] This view was later endorsed by legal experts and an article in the Daily Maverick suggested that the City of Cape Town was making reference to a fictitious law to justify the evictions and, also, lying about the fact that the shacks had all been unoccupied before they were demolished.[12] Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos later wrote that these evictions were "Brutal, inhumane, and totally unlawful".[13]
Ownership of the Land
The land that was occupied is part of a larger parcel of 200h of land bought by NTWA Dumela Investments in 2007.[14]
