[imagesource:wikimediacommons]

Two highjacked buildings in the Cape Town CBD were raided on Wednesday morning after the squatters living there failed to secure an application in the Western Cape High Court to stop them being evicted.

The ‘mass eviction’ saw hundreds of illegal foreigners being detained and transported to the immigration office in Epping.

SAPS, City Law Enforcement, and the Department of Home Affairs descended on 44 to 48 Commercial Street, removing an estimated 500 people and their belongings, which lined the pavement along the street. Several scuffles broke out and police even found a man hiding in the ceiling of one of the floors.

More than 50 motorbikes with Uber Eats, Mr Delivery, Checkers Sixty60 and Pick n Pay asap branding were confiscated.

Police also broke down shacks that had been erected in the buildings, and there were clear signs that fire had been made inside the rooms. The eviction was carried out after an order was served on squatters on August 31 last year, just days after the building caught fire due to an electrical fault.

One of the evictees said: “They had to give us alternative places if they were evicting people. Where must we go now? What about our stuff? I believe that the issue was with the woman who the owner of the building had a lease agreement with. She treated us badly, bringing bouncers and gangsters, and we threw her out after we got a protection order.”

According to police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie, more than 100 undocumented people were transferred to the Epping immigration office for verification, while everyone else who illegally lived in the building was told to leave immediately.

Police also arrested a 30-year-old man for drug possession.

[source:iol]