Backyard dwellers in the poor township of Delft on the Cape Flats in Cape Town were prevented by private security from illegally occupying newly constructed houses. The houses are situated in the The Hague section of Delft. Delft is a poor and working class community plagued by a shortage of housing, drugs, crime and gangsterism.

During one confrontation a woman in her 70s was pushed to the ground and dragged by a heavily armed security guard when she trespassed into one of the empty houses. The crowd became volatile with many heated exchanged between the backyard dwellers and the guards.

A resident in the area said the houses had already been stripped and vandalised by criminals and is no longer suitable for occupation.