11 June 2020. A police vehicle drives into Hangberg at the start of the unrest.

11 June 2020. Law enforcement arrives on the coldest and wettest day of the year to demolish ‘illegal’ structures.

11 June 2020. Metro Police, under instruction from the City of Cape Town, are armed and ready to demolish structures in Hangberg.

11 June 2020. Teargas is shot into Hangberg.

11 June 2020. Teargas is shot into the Sentinel Primary school while students are in the building.

11 June 2020. A teacher from Sentinel Primary School is shocked after teargas floods the school and all the children are evacuated to safety.

11 June 2020. Teargas fills the streets as the violence escalates.

11 June 2020. A fire is lit in the road as the clash continues.

11 June 2020. A resident walks down the street with rocks in his hands as the violence begins to escalate.

11 June 2020. A resident stands with rocks in his hand.

11 June 2020. Shells of rubber bullets are scattered on the streets after the violence.

11 June 2020. A broken bottle lies in a puddle after being thrown at the police.

11 June 2020. Teargas canisters litter the streets after the violence subsides.

19 June 2020. Law enforcement officers run through the streets as violence escalates after a single ‘illegal’ structure is demolished.

19 June 2020. Residents hide behind a small barricade after violence breaks out.

19 June 202. As night falls, an angry resident holds a rock in the air.

19 June 2020. A local resident stands in the hue of a flare.

19 June 2020. Many residents feel they have been silenced for too long and need to act – even if the only armour they have is rocks.

19 June 2020. After hours of fighting, residents set fire to a container in front of the electricity depot. The land the electricity depot is on was allocated for housing, but was never developed for this purpose.

19 June 2020. At least six military Casspirs are deployed into the area as the protest continues late into the night.

19 June 2020. Deploying military Casspirs is an expensive operation. Many residents wonder how different the community would be if the same amount of resources were invested in the community.

19 June 2020. A military officers returns to his vehicle as the protest begins to subside. Many believe the brute show of force is another form of intimidation against the community.

20 June 2020. The site of the demolished structure the day after the violence.

20 June 2020. Children play in the sand next to the structure that was demolished the night before.

20 June 2020. A man detaches sheets of corrugated iron to salvage them from the demolished structure.

20 June 2020. Broken glass litters the ground.

20 June 2020. Shadé Daizy shares her story on site, saying how she was ‘sick to her stomach’ when the police moved in to destroy her brothers house.

20 June 2020. Local community leaders meet with members of the South African Human Rights Commission and Peace and Justice Witnesses to try and find a way forward after the chaos.

20 June 2020. In the wake of the chaos from the night before, a local crèche was burned to the ground. While this is one of the few resources in the community, many residents believe that certain structures are considered less illegal than others due to their political affiliation.

20 June 2020. The remains of the burned crèche.

20 June 2020. Inside Shadé’s mother’s house, matresses are stacked on top of each other. Every night the house is rearranged so that the eight people living there can have space to sleep.

20 June 2020. Window frames and bags of cement are stacked against the wall. Every corner of the small apartment is filled.

20 June 2020. A broken window leans against the wall.

20 June 2020. Shadé explains that people don’t want to resort to violence, but many feel they do not know what else to do when their voices continue to be unheard. Everyone just wants their place in the sun.

20 June 2020. In the streets, a small dog scavenges through a pile of rubbish.

20 June 2020. A young girl pretends to shoot her friend with a toy gun. The on-going violence has a severe impact on children, yet there are still insufficient social services in Hangberg.

20 June 2020. A young boy holds a teargas canister he found on the street.

20 June 2020. Housing issues in Hangberg have persisted for more than a decade, yet still no housing has been provided. It often feels like the City’s response to service delivery is completely upside down.

20 June 2020. Graffiti on the wall in Hangberg.