Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area in

Delft, Cape Town Delft is a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated next to the Cape Town International Airport, Belhar, Blue Downs, Ikwezi Park, Mandalay,Luzuko, Phillipi East and Site C, Khayelitsha. It is known for its recreation ...

, better known by its nickname Blikkiesdorp, is a relocation camp made-up of corrugated iron shacks.Life in 'Tin Can Town' for the South Africans evicted ahead of World Cup
David Smith, The Guardian, 1 April 2010 Blikkiesdorp, which is

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

for "Tin Can Town", was given its name by residents because of the row-upon-row of tin-like one room structures throughout the settlement.

Settlement structure

Blikkiesdorp was built by the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The remot ...

in 2007 in response to a court order. It contains approximately 1,600 one-room structures. According to government officials, it has cost over 30 million rand to build. The structures have walls and roofs made of thin galvanised corrugated iron sheets. They are of 18 square meters in size. Ablution, sanitation, and water facilities are shared between four structures.

Conditions and criticisms

Blikkiesdorp is regarded as unsafe and it has become well known for its high crime rate, its substandard living conditions, and its extremely hot or cold, windy and sandy living environment. Residents have been reported to be suffering from depression. It has been called an informal settlement by city of Cape Town officials despite its formal structure being built by the government. In response to the criticisms, the city has called Blikkiesdorp the safest informal settlement in Cape Town. It has also been compared to a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

by residents and in national and international media. The City of Cape Town has been criticised for its role in creating Blikkiesdorp. Premier Helen Zille and Mayor

Dan Plato Daniel Plato (born 5 October 1960), known as Dan Plato, is a South African politician and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since January 2022, previously serving from June 2011 until October 2018. He is the former mayor of Cap ...

have come under fire from residents on many occasions. On 18 November 2009 Dan Plato was visibly harassed by residents who claimed he had lied about when they would receive better housing. NGOs, international human rights organisations, and the Anti-Eviction Campaign have publicly criticised the conditions in Blikkiesdorp and how they say it is used to reinforce the eviction of poor families especially to make way for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Residents have also threatened to burn down Blikkiesdorp because of the bad conditions in the settlement. Ahead of the 2010 World Cup the British anti-poverty charity War on Want created a virtual model of Blikkiesdorp featuring videos of residents talking about conditions in the settlement. Blikkiesdorp has also been compared with the alien camp called

District 9 ''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zea ...

from the international hit movie on numerous occasions. This even earned it a front page spread in the South African tabloid '' The Daily Voice''.

Evictions

Blikkiesdorp has been instrumental in relocating residents evicted from elsewhere in the city. Many evicted residents of Salt River and

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

have found themselves in the relocation camp almost 30 kilometers away from town. It has been called a dumping ground for unwanted and or homeless people from all over Cape Town. The evicted

Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers Symphony Way Informal Settlement was a small community of pavement dwellers (shack dwellers who live on the pavement) that lived on Symphony Way, a main road in Delft, South Africa, from February 2008 until late 2009. They were a group of famili ...

were moved to Blikkiesdorp in October 2009 after occupying Symphony Way for almost two years.

Police brutality

The

South African Police Service The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in ea ...

(SAPS) has been implicated in draconian policing measures in Blikkiesdorp Temporary Relocation Area in

. Police have been accused of suppression of freedoms and illegal curfews. They have also been accused of gratuitous violence against innocent bystanders during drug raids and turning the settlement into a

Films and books

No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way ''No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way'' is an anthology published in 2011 of 45 factual tales written and edited by the Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers. The foreword to the book is written by activist and author Raj Patel and the ...

is an anthology written by the

about their - at the time - pending eviction to Blikkiesdorp
'Tin Town', a short documentary on the Symphony Way community in Blikkiesdorp

Tin Town: the unaccountable cost of the 2010 World Cup

'Is Blikkiesdorp Home?'

External links

Blikkiesdorp Photos

'Tin Town', a short documentary on the Symphony Way community in Blikkiesdorp

Tin Town: the unaccountable cost of the 2010 World Cup

Blikkiesdorp Photos from the Guardian UK

Blikkiesdorp (film)

The Beautiful Gain, music video of a song that refers to Blikkiesdorp by the Chomsky Allstars

War on Want Blikkiesdorp Interactive photographic panorama

References

{{Political history of South Africa Shanty towns in South Africa Slums in South Africa Human habitats Politics of South Africa Urban planning in South Africa Suburbs of Cape Town Housing in South Africa