Applicants want ban on land invasion evictions extended
A three-day court hearing to determine the legality, or otherwise, of evicting ‘land invaders’ began in the Western Cape High Court this week and is due to end with a reserved judgment today.
In August Judges Shehnaz Meer and Rosheni Allie ruled that the City of Cape Town’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit cannot evict people or demolish their structures, whether occupied or unoccupied, without a court order while the country remains in a State of National Disaster, notes a GroundUp report.
The applicants – the Human Rights Commission and several intervening parties – now want the urgent order granted to be made final, and to extend beyond the State of National Disaster.
The matter arose after a video, which the judges described in their initial ruling as ‘shocking’, of a naked Bulelani Qolani being dragged from his shack in an informal settlement by a city official was widely shared on social media. His structure and those of his neighbours were then torn down.
The city claimed it was entitled to act without a court order, because the structures were ‘unoccupied’.
Meanwhile, Cape Town is moving to ward off land invaders and illegal occupations.
According to a Cape Argus report, it is drafting a plan which included stricter law enforcement, fencing off all unused city land, security, lighting and putting up temporary structures.
‘The Draft Unlawful Land Occupation framework is a dynamic document that is undergoing amendments as we speak. It comes in the wake of the spate of primarily organised, large-scale illegal occupations, especially in the last four months,’ said Mayco member for human settlements Malusi Booi.
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.
