Qwhite Cispicious: Judicial Interpretation and Land Displacement in Cape Town

Abstract

Since the end of Apartheid, Cape Town’s distribution of land ownership has undergone little change and mass land displacement continues to exist. This thesis argues that post- Apartheid South Africa has an elaborate court system that rules in favor of white land owners at the expense of the black and colored people who are repeatedly displaced by white colonialism while also maintaining the illusion of equality under the law. Further, this thesis asserts that the subsequent development and expansion of the Anti-Land Invasion Unit in the City of Cape Town exemplifies how the courts play a key role in legitimizing and distributing violence of the law. In doing so, this thesis uses a Fanonian lens supplemented by critical race theory to analyze the development of civil law and its subtextual transformation into criminal law. The focus of this thesis is five key South African Constitutional Court cases regarding urban land contests from 2000 to 2014 (Grootboom; Cape Killarney; Modderklip; Joe Slovo; and Fischer) as well as research gathered in Cape Town concerning the Legal Resource Center, District Six Museum and land rights organization Ndifuna Ukwazi and numerous secondary sources.