Occupiers Petition City of Cape Town to Lease Circus School Land in Observatory - CircusTalk

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Occupiers Petition City of Cape Town to Lease Circus School Land in Observatory

Earlier this year, 30 people who’ve been living at 2 Willow St – at what used to be the South African National Circus School in the inner-city suburb of Observatory – marched against the City of Cape Town’s intention to evict them. Now the group has petitioned the City to allow them to lease the land.

In 2015 the City terminated the lease it had with Dimitri Slaverse, who founded the South African National Circus School. The lease was terminated because the city plans to use the land as a sports ground which will form part of the Hartleyvale sporting precinct.

“The land is required for sporting purposes, in order to enable more residents than is presently the case to access this scarce and valuable sport and recreational space,” said Belinda Walker, the mayoral committee member for Community Services and Special Projects.

In 2016 Slaverse was illegally subletting the property. He was also accused of being violent towards people occupying the land.

In a statement this month, Zahid Badroodien, mayoral committee member for Community Services and Health, said: “This group [of people living on the land] has since grown and their activities have damaged the integrity of the land at this sporting space and has consequently impacted on the potential use of this space for years to come…”

Read the Full Article at Daily Maverick

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