By Odwa Bafana Mkentane
The Hanover Park Civic Organisation has accused the City of Cape Town of unfairly barricading the home of a man who has lived there for more than 50 years.
The organisation says Brian Collins was locked out of the council-owned property after serving an 18-month prison sentence, leaving him without a place to live. The organisation is questioning the city’s housing policy, which it says unfairly penalises Collins for the time he spent in prison.
The Hanover Park Civic Organisation member Gary Hartzenberg says the matter has been taken to the Western Cape Rental Housing Tribunal.
“In its attached letter acknowledging Mr Collins’s complaint, the Tribunal states that, from the date a complaint is lodged until it has made a ruling, a landlord may not evict a tenant who continues to pay the rent due. When representatives of the Hanover Park Civic Organisation showed this letter to Ms Lulu during a meeting, she replied, “I have no time for this,” and stormed out of the boardroom,” said Hartzberg.
Hartzberg added that this is an unacceptable way for a public servant to treat a resident facing the loss of his home.
“City officials are paid with public money and have a duty to listen to residents, consider the documents placed before them and explain their decisions. They cannot dismiss a tribunal process because they do not want to engage with it,” he said.
The Civic Organisation is demanding the immediate removal of all barricades preventing Mr Collins from entering his home, written confirmation that the City will respect the Rental Housing Tribunal process and will not attempt to remove him before the matter is decided, a written explanation of the policy the City claims applies to Mr Collins and how it has been applied in his case, an investigation into Ms Lulu’s conduct and the institution of appropriate disciplinary action by her superiors in the City’s Human Settlements Department and an urgent meeting with the City to resolve the matter and protect Mr Collins from being left homeless.
Voice of the Cape has reached out to the City of Cape Town for a response and has received the following:
Brian Collins is the uncle of the unit’s registered tenant. He had been listed as a member of the household.
On 12 May 2025, the tenant and her husband visited the office and reported that Mr Collins had left the dwelling on 30 March 2024 following his arrest for the assault on the tenant and for being in contravention of an interdict.
On 17 February 2026, Mr Collins visited the office and requested that the City allow him to return to the dwelling. He was advised that he would need to approach the court regarding the matter. He subsequently made further visits to the office, together with relatives and representatives of the Hanover Park Civic Organisation, during which the same position was conveyed.
On 20 August 2026, the tenant signed a notice slip and voluntarily surrendered the tenancy by handing over the keys to the unit, thereby giving the City vacant possession of the unit.
At the time the tenancy was relinquished, Mr Collins was not in occupation of the dwelling. According to information provided by the registered tenant, he had vacated the property on 30 March 2024. Following the surrender of the tenancy and return of the keys by the registered tenant, the City obtained vacant possession of the unit.
The City has no obligation toward Mr Collins and the City is allocating the unit as per the City’s Allocation Policy: Housing Opportunities 2022.
Photo: Hanover Park Gangwatch Group Facebook page
