Precedent-setting judgment for homeless
A group of 24 homeless people, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), have scored a significant victory in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), which ordered metro police to pay them compensation for confiscating their belonging in a clean-up operation. The court ruled that confiscation of goods was illegal.
The order, which a Sunday Tribune report says is viewed as precedent-setting, came about when LHR applied for an interdict to halt operations in a Pretoria park. Tshwane City’s waste management department and metro police went to the park where homeless people sleep in February.
They removed personal property, including ID books, cellphones and clothes.
On behalf of the 24 applicants, LHR applied for an interdict to prevent illegal harassment, and damages for the violation of constitutional rights, in particular homeless persons’ rights to dignity. Following the application, the City of Tshwane undertook not to violate their rights in future and if it needed to do clean-up operations, it would do so in consultation with LHR.
Louise du Plessis, who brought the application, said she hoped it would be used to set a precedent for other municipalities. ‘Taking away the belongings of anybody, homeless or not, is considered theft and should never be done. Councils need to realise this.’
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City manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola filed an affidavit in which the city offered to pay for ‘emergency relief ‘ for the ‘distress caused to the applicants', according to a second Sunday Tribune report. In his affidavit, Mosola said the city conducted a routine clean-up operation in line with by-laws to remove the mess at the park, as the homeless urinated and defecated there.
He said the operation was also to clean up the goods they left behind. The application was to interdict the respondents from continuing with clean-up operations without following due process, to stop them from harassing the homeless as well as to prevent them from confiscating the people’s belongings. The City of Tshwane undertook to pay each of the 24 applicants R1 500 for their confiscated belongings.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
