Words: Mary-Anne Gontsana/ GroundUp
Pictures: Ashraf Hendricks/ GroundUp
Tucked away in the heart of Lansdowne in Cape Town is the little settlement of Flamingo Heights, established in 2014. On the face of it, this is an informal settlement with a difference: there are wide paths between shacks, and each home has its own running water, sanitation and electricity connection. But residents say life there is tough.
Some people have been living there, on land owned by the City of Cape Town, since 2005. In 2014, people living near the train station and under Lansdowne Bridge were moved there by what was then the City's Vagrant Unit.
In 2014, the City reblocked the settlement, reconfiguring the shacks into clusters and creating space between them for vehicles.
