Queer activists who occupied a luxury Camps Bay Airbnb have been asked to leave by 5pm today.
The group rented the property for three nights only, but then announced they intended to remain in the home for as long as possible. They moved in last Friday and refused to move on Monday, when their rental ended.
The group of seven people call themselves the Queer Radical Feminist Activist Collective and use the Twitter handle, We See You. They say they are hoping to draw attention to issues around land and housing.
However, TurnKey365 Property Management Group said in a statement: ‘The guise under which the guests secured the booking has not only been dishonest, but their “indefinite” occupancy and refusal to allow staff onto the property has led to many staff unable to perform their duties resulting in a further compromise on their livelihoods and ability to support their families.
‘In addition, much needed future bookings are being compromised, resulting in a further setback for a small company already suffering and attempting to recover from the throes of Covid-19.’
Turnkey365 Property Management said in order to protect staff and their families, they had requested the group to vacate the property by 5pm today.
Kelly-Eve Koopman, a member of the collective, told IOL that the occupation was not an attempt to rob someone of their livelihood. She was quoted as saying: ‘The attempt was not to rob someone of their livelihood, this is an asset of someone who owns many other spaces like this that can be appropriated for what we’re trying to use it for now, which is a safe space for queer people who have been displaced and removed and unable to find housing and support during this time. We’ve done extensive research on this place and what is our historical imperative to be here. What does the equality scale look like, is it viable to call for spaces like these to be reappropriated by the public.’
Koopman also called it a ‘healing action’ and said that the group’s ‘queerness’ and ‘feminism’ was central to this.
It is not clear why they have occupied a private individual’s property rather than government property.
[Picture: Capsol, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23114231]