Irene Grootboom

Irene Grootboom
Born	c. 1969
Died	2008 Wallacedene, Kraaifontein, South Africa
Nationality	South African
Known for	Housing activist who won a court case about the constitutional right to adequate housing, and died penniless in a shack

Irene Grootboom (c. 1969 – 2008) was a South African housing rights activist best known for her victory before the Constitutional Court in 2000. The Court found that the government had not met its obligation to provide adequate alternative housing for the residents of Cape Town's Wallacedene informal settlement. The ruling provided clear legal support for housing-rights campaigns in South Africa and elsewhere. At the time of her death in August 2008, however, Grootboom was still living in a shack.

The SJC grassroots movement in Khayelitsha established the Irene Grootboom Memorial Lecture Series in her honour.

References

• Government of the Republic of South Africa and Others v Grootboom and Others 2001 (1) SA 46 (CC).

External links

• The 'Grootboom' community, November 2000, 2001. 4 min. film. Focuses on a lawsuit by Irene Grootboom, includes interviews with Wallacedene residents.
• "A pity Grootboom will not be there to ask about unfulfilled promises"