Just last week we brought to your attention the eviction happening today: the forced removal of families from a flower and compost farm in Tokai.

It was an attempt to highlight the injustices placed on residents who are easy targets due to increased market-related prices.

Then, on Saturday, residents of another eviction notice took action.

For years, various Woodstock residents have been unsure of their future. Just like the removal of the families in District Six all those many years ago, families are aware of the consequences of being shipped off to another suburb when they are evicted from the one they have called home for so long.

The city is, after all, expanding and the space around it is being acquired for business purposes.

It was the families who live in Bromwell Street, just behind the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, that took action:

Joined by NGO Reclaim the City, they gathered at the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturday morning – and I am sure people who wished for a peaceful breakfast without the reminders of where they were sitting were shocked.

A peaceful sit-in, the aim was to highlight the effects of these evictions and help secure residents alternative suitable accommodation.

The Woodstock Hub bought the homes of more than 20 families in 2013 and have served eviction notices, giving them until 9 September to move out of the houses.

The residents lost a Western Cape High Court appeal against the evictions. The Woodstock Hub released a statement on Friday:

The Woodstock Hub said on Friday that they “acquired the properties at 120-130 Bromwell Street‚ Woodstock‚ on October 30 2013 from the seller‚ Reza Syms‚ with a contractual agreement that they would be vacant on transfer”.

“It is important to state that the Hub did not acquire the properties with the intention of them being occupied and as circumstances unfolded we have throughout the process maintained high levels of sensitivity and respect for the process and the right of all occupants of the properties‚” the statement added.

Reclaim the City had this to say:

They [the residents] brought the struggle against evictions to the heart of gentrification.

They… sent a message: it ends here, today! No more forced removals of poor families from Woodstock and the city. Bromwell Street is now the site and the champion of a much bigger struggle. We stand with them to end spatial apartheid in Cape Town.

The Bromwell protest showed Cape Town developers that residents had the power and support to stop them in their tracks.

This sets a precedent for all poor people wanting to remain and find homes close to the inner city. They can fight back.