By Mark Ogagan
Squatters living in two hijacked buildings in Commercial Street in the Cape Town CBD, have failed to secure an application in the Western Cape High Court to stop their eviction.
Hundreds of illegal foreigners were subsequently evicted and taken to the immigration office in Epping on Wednesday morning.
A joint operation between the SAPS, City Law Enforcement, and the Department of Home Affairs entered the building – in close proximity to Parliament – and removed the people and their belongings.
When the Independent Media team arrived on scene, the people’s belongings were on the pavement outside 42 and 44 Commercial Street, which were reportedly occupied by more than 500 people.
A bus and a truck were packed with undocumented foreigners.
A foreign man fought with the police when asked for his documentation, telling the officers it was in his motorcycle. He was then taken into custody. Another man who was hiding in the ceiling was also handcuffed and taken away.
More than 50 motorbikes with Uber Eats, Mr Delivery, Checkers Sixty60 and Pick n Pay asap branding were confiscated. Inside the two buildings were shacks and it was evident that a fire had occurred there.
The toilet facilities were broken, with effluent flowing into the street.
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.
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