GOOD Statement by Axolile Notywala, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:
The clock is ticking for residents of the Goodwood Social Housing complex as more eviction notices are issued, threatening to cut off access to their homes by 16:00 today. Yesterday, tenants were issued yet another notice, the second in less than a week, threatening to remove them from the biometric access system if they fail to make payment or “make contact” by Tuesday, 14 October 2025, at 16:00.
Tenants are not refusing to pay rent, they are resisting exploitation. Since 2023, they have been overcharged through business-rate utility tariffs in buildings meant to provide affordable, dignified social housing for working-class and low-income residents. The City of Cape Town, while not the property owner, has enabled this injustice by failing to apply due diligence in its municipal billing, thereby perpetuating financial hardship for already vulnerable households.
On Friday afternoon, tenants were illegally locked out of their homes after receiving similar notices earlier in the week. Following public outrage and a solidarity protest organised by the GOOD Party outside DCI, the local police station commander intervened, taking statements from tenants who had been locked in and opening kidnapping complaints against DCI management. Only after this police intervention was security ordered to restore residents’ freedom of movement.
These actions by DCI amount to illegal evictions and gross violations of tenant rights. Locking tenants out of their homes without a court order is explicitly prohibited under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE Act).
The GOOD Party calls on DCI Community Housing Services CEO Fezile Calana and his management team to immediately stop the ongoing illegal lockouts and evictions taking place at the complex. We further call on the City of Cape Town to pay back the money it has wrongfully charged tenants through inflated utility bills since 2023, the result of business tariffs being incorrectly applied to residential properties, leaving tenants poorer and exploited.
The Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) and the Provincial Housing Tribunal must intervene immediately to halt these unlawful actions and ensure DCI complies fully with social housing regulations and the PIE Act.
We also call on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to intervene today to prevent any further illegal lockouts. According to National Instruction 7 of 2017, SAPS members must ensure that no eviction or lockout is carried out without a valid court order. SAPS has a clear duty to act immediately to stop any unlawful denial of access to homes.
As Capetonians need to stand in solidarity with the residents of Goodwood Social Housing, families and pensioners now facing homelessness due to the illegal and inhumane actions of DCI.
*The GOOD Party is a founding member of UNITE FOR CHANGE.
GOOD Land Reform: The party supports fair land reform that respects property rights.
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