New evidence disputed in evictions case
New evidence has been brought in a case by evicted occupiers of City of Cape Town-owned land in Makhaza, Khayelitsha. The occupiers of the 'Island' informal settlement brought an urgent application to stop the city evicting them, lodging their papers on 11 April.
But a GroundUp report notes last week they introduced a video to the court record – shot by the Social Justice Coalition – which apparently shows that their shacks were occupied when they were evicted. The crux of the case is whether or not the city could proceed to evict the occupiers without first obtaining an eviction order, even though the city had the interdict.
In dispute is whether or not the shacks removed by the city were indeed occupied, which is why the SJC video is important to the case. The city’s lawyers wanted the new evidence added to the court record removed because it was introduced after the papers had initially been filed. After lawyers from both sides met, they appeared before Judge Derek Wille, who ruled that the city file an affidavit outlining what information it wanted removed from the court record by 9 May.
He set down the case to be heard on 14 June. Wille also ordered that the two sides seek mediation and try to settle the matter before the court date.
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.
