Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says she will study the findings and recommendations of the report of the Ministerial Commission of Inquiry that probed the inhumane evictions of families in Lwandle, Cape Town.

The Commission of Inquiry chairman, Advocate Denzil Potgieter, and other members of the commission handed over a 296-page report to the Minister during a media briefing at the Imbizo Centre in Cape Town on Wednesday.

The inquiry was concluded at the end of September after public hearings in mid-July.

During a cold winter night in June, 800 families in Lwandle were evicted from an illegally-occupied land.

“I intend to take time to study this report and thereafter I intend to ensure that it is given to the various Ministers who are affected and all those parties that are affected, including the Minister of Human Settlements in the Western Cape, the Cape Town Mayor and SANRAL CEO.

“It will take me one day to study 296 pages of the report. To apply my mind, it takes me one week.

“After one week, I will then forward the report to the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements,” she said.

Advocate Denzil Potgieter said while the inquiry enjoyed great public support, the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town did not cooperate.

“… It is to be noted, however, that the refusal by the government of the Western Cape – the Provincial Department of Human Settlements and the City of Cape Town in particular – to participate in the public hearings has hampered the work of the inquiry.

“We are nevertheless more than convinced at this juncture that having had public hearings, where parties were allowed to make oral presentations and allowed meaningful engagement with the members, has enriched the work [of the inqiry].”

Some of the recommendations that Potgieter highlighted were that amendments needed to be made to legislation that dealt with evictions and illegally occupied land, and the role of all officials in the chain of evictions.

Potgieter also recommended that the Minister take a look at the housing waiting list and consider launching a forensic investigation to probe all the challenges and shortcomings that came with the list.

He said the affected parties, who were invited to make presentations at public hearings, included institutions like the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), SAPS, The Sheriff of the Strand, Western Cape Human Settlements Department, City of Cape Town, the Lwandle and Nomzamo evictees and NGOs.