Community resistance to megaprojects: The case of the N2 Gateway project in Joe Slovo informal settlement, Cape Town

• Megaproject interventions trigger complex community responses.
• The formal and informal political dynamics of the local community are transformed by the divisive effects of the intervention.
• Studies of community responses to megaproject interventions must account for changes over time.

Interactions between megaproject interventions and local communities represents critical subjects of investigation as national and metropolitan governments are using large-scale investments in urban landscapes as pillars of their growth strategies. This article analyses community resistance to the large-scale housing project N2 Gateway in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa township, Cape Town. Since 2004, the inhabitants of Joe Slovo have experienced evictions and relocation, but also the materialisation of new housing opportunities for many community members. Their response to the project has evolved from an initial show of resistance, via a legal process, to a more engagement-oriented strategy during the allocation phase. I argue that the mobilisation of informal settlement dwellers facing megaproject implementation has created disempowerment, social division and a reconfiguration of power relations. It is also proposed that community resistance to megaprojects is best understood when traced over time as a dynamic response to a constantly unfolding project-related intervention.