The squatter's movement Abahlali baseMjondolo occupied a piece of vacant state owned land in Macassar Village, near Somerset West outside of Cape Town on 18 May 2009.
"[10] Mayor Dan Plato argued that "certain elements had orchestrated the land invasion through misinformation" and that 'If the group was allowed to squat there, they would "start shouting for services" such as electricity and toilets.
[14] On 9 June the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions in Geneva issued a letter strongly condemning the actions of the Cape Town City Council.
[18] On 18 June the City of Cape Town terminated its working relationship with the legal firm that had represented the occupiers[19] resulting in a 'storm'[20] of harsh criticism from human rights advocates.
[21] During 2009 the land occupation continued under 24-hour surveillance from the Anti-Land Invasions Unit,[22] which had just received R10 million in funding from the Cape Town City Council.