He was referring to the verdict of judge-president John Hlophe in which he determined that some 20 000 people must be removed from the Joe Slovo informal settlement.

The residents, some of whom have been living there for about 15 years, plan to oppose the verdict and will now turn to the appeal court in Bloemfontein.

Zulu, coordinator of the task team, said in a statement an opposing plan, to be known as Plan B, will be made known in due time.

He refused to give more information.

Although the verdict was not in favour of the thousands of families concerned, this has done nothing to dampen their spirits. They are very adamant that they will stay just there where they are.

On Monday morning thousands of residents gathered at the Cape High Court building.

“Away with Judge Hlophe! Away with Thubelisha!” they thundered.

Thubelisa Homes, the developers of the government’s N2 housing project, as well as the national and provincial housing departments applied for an eviction order last year in order to move the approximately 6 000 families temporarily to Delft.

There was a large police presence on Monday afternoon when the crowd returned from their visit to the court building.

Some overturned a wooden structure, but this was placed back into position later.

Xolani Xundu, spokesperson for the national department of housing, said his department plans to build another 1 500 units on the land now occupied by the dissatisfied residents.

Prof. Martin Legassick, former professor in history at the University of the Western Cape who wrote a research report about the housing crisis in the Western Cape, said this was “bureaucratic madness”.

“The housing project must be re-designed to accommodate the families in Joe Slovo,” he said.

Some 1 600 families who had illegally occupied an N2 Gateway project in Delft Symphony, were evicted three weeks ago after a court order.

About 70% of the envisaged 30 000 units of the N2 housing project will be given to residents of informal settlements and 30% to backyard dwellers.

In his verdict of 51 pages Hlophe said the state was in no way trying to resurrect the apartheid ghost of forced evictions.

“The department of housing is only fulfilling a constitutional duty to supply enough housing.

“This is not a mass eviction, but a strategic resettlement to be completed in phases according to the availability of temporary resettlement areas,” Hlophe said.

Hlophe ruled that residents will be moved systematically, starting on 17 March.