Human Rights Media Centre
Go inside the Cissie Gool House occupation of the old Woodstock Hospital in Cape Town undergoing a codesign process in this short film by Haroon Gunn-Salie Produced by Human Rights Media Centre for International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.
Featuring: Bevil Lucas, Andrea Couvert, Malcolm Campbell, Amanda Gericke
Narration: Shirley Gunn
Reclaim the City
Since 2019, Cissie Gool House has devoted itself to co-design the occupation that houses over 1 000 people. The process started with the City of Cape Town, meaning they believed the occupation could be an alternative housing for the poor and working-class people, however, the City changed its mind & abandoned this process without communicating its position on this process.
Residents of CGH together with the support of NGOs, experts, and scholars have been gathering to continue the co-design process, this is a 22-step process that we are very proud of.
This occupation has been our home for the past 5-years in a city with no well-located affordable housing for its poor – who are left displaced to far-flung areas.
The occupation has provided refuge and a HOME to us. We will continue to build a safe community; aluta continua.
Cape Town Commoners' video
Cissie Gool House The fourth co-design workshop was held on Sunday 28 November 2021, the theme was: Stories / Histories / Memories For Re-Shaping CGH.
The former Woodstock hospital, now renamed Cissie Gool House, is home to several hundred people. This event was part of an ongoing conversation on economic sustainability.
The former Woodstock hospital, now renamed Cissie Gool House, is home to several hundred people. This event was part of an ongoing conversation on economic sustainability.
Let’s celebrate together Cissie Gool House, our common home, and our continuous efforts to create a better life for ourselves, for our children and for our community. Let’s celebrate together and re-affirm the reasons for building a more just and equal society in a city imagined as a common.
Cissie Gool House is an old public hospital in Woodstock (Cape Town) and home for people who have been evicted or would have been displaced by unaffordable rent and property prices.
Denver Arendse is a resident at Cissie Gool House, Woodstock, Cape Town. Cissie Gool House was occupied in April 2017. It now provides temporary accommodation to families who need a home or have been evicted.