A woman living in a Johannesburg shelter with her five children ended up on the streets last week after, she says, being turfed out without the shelter following a proper eviction process.

According to a TimesLIVE report, the woman, who has been at the shelter since June 2019, is a victim of domestic violence.

She fled from her family home in Soweto, seeking refuge and protection there and had obtained a protection order against her husband last year.

The shelter in Braamfontein provides services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence under the auspices of the Gauteng Community Safety Department.

The woman has applied to the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) to order the shelter to restore her occupation at the shelter. The shelter and Department of Community Safety are opposing the application.

Her problems there began on 15 February after an altercation with another resident who complained to the housemaster.

She was called by the housemothers and told to leave by Monday, 17 February.

‘I was not given any reason or basis for this directive,’ the woman said in her application before court.

‘This action is tantamount to eviction and was done unlawfully and without following proper process. In addition ... it was done in a most violent and traumatic manner, wholly contradictory to the purpose of the shelter, and without any sympathy, empathy for me or my children,’ the woman said in an affidavit.

The application was set to be heard yesterday but could not be enrolled. It is now likely to be heard next week.

Full TimesLIVE report