After a 12-year battle, Clara Phillips (84) and her disabled son have been vindicated by the SCA that ruled against their eviction from a Somerset West property.

A Cape Times report says Phillips has lived on a section of a property in Somerset West since 1947.

The SCA noted that the previous owner of the farm entered into an oral agreement with Phillips and her husband, granting them a lifelong right of occupation of the property.

In September 2008, a new owner gave Phillips notice to vacate before January 2009. An eviction application was brought in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction & Unlawful Occupation of Land (PIE) Act, and was referred for a hearing, where the magistrate in Somerset West granted an order for eviction.

On appeal, the High Court set aside the eviction order and allowed Phillips to raise a new legal issue on appeal, namely that the provisions of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (Esta) applied to the matter.

The High Court found that new owner failed to establish that the provisions of Esta did not apply, and the magistrate was wrong to grant an eviction order in terms of the PIE Act.

The SCA has now found that although the orally conferred ‘life right’ was not enforceable against a subsequent owner, it remained a weighty consideration in determining what was just and equitable, says the Cape Times report.

‘No case in which an order of eviction from a residence is sought can ignore the visceral reality of what is sought, namely the ejectment of a person from their home in vindication of a superior right to property,’ Acting Judge Glenn Goosen ruled.

‘At issue is the question whether an 84-year-old widow and her disabled son ought to be evicted from a home she has lived in since she was 11-years-old. Also at issue is whether the appellant’s rights of ownership of the property in question ought to be vindicated by such an eviction order.’

Full Cape Times report

Judgment