The Constitutional Court has held that the rules of the temporary shelter provided by the City of Johannesburg infringed on the residents’ rights to dignity‚ freedom and security of the person and privacy. A TimesLIVE report says the shelter not only did not allow spouses to sleep together but that residents had to leave in the morning and return before lockdown every night.

While in 2015 the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) agreed that the rules were unconstitutional‚ the SCA later said the limitation on husbands and wives and permanent life partners sleeping together in the strictly temporary emergency accommodation provided was relaxed.

However‚ in a majority judgment‚ Constitutional Court Justice Nonkosi Mhlantla said she was not persuaded by the city’s argument that because the accommodation was temporary the evictees were not entitled to the full protection of the other fundamental rights in the Constitution.

‘The argument‚ re-iterated several times by the city‚ that the shelter does not constitute a "home"‚ and therefore the applicants had diminished expectations with respect to dignity‚ freedom and security of the person‚ and privacy is without merit‚’ Mhlantla said. She said the Constitution conferred the rights to human dignity‚ freedom and security of the person and privacy on everyone‚ regardless of where they were at any given time. ‘The lockout rule limits the right to dignity because it is cruel‚ condescending and degrading. It forces the applicants out onto the streets during the day with no place whatsoever to call their own and to rest. As a result‚ people seek refuge on the street while they wait for the shelter to re-open‚’ Mhlantla said.

Full TimesLIVE report

Dladla v City of Johannesburg