Cape Town evictions appeal dismissed
The SCA has dismissed, in large part, an appeal by the City of Cape Town against an interim ruling preventing the eviction of people and demolition of structures without a court order during the National State of Disaster.
The city approached the SCA after the Western Cape High Court ruled in favour of an application by the Human Rights Commission that stops the municipality from clearing illegally built informal homes without a court order, notes a News24 report.
The interim order was handed down by the Western Cape High Court, while it heard the second part of the matter dealing with counter spoliation.
The counter spoliation matter was brought to the court by the HRC, Bulelani Qolani and social justice movement Housing Assembly, following the removal of a naked Qolani from a shack being broken down around him in July 2020, when the lockdown prohibited eviction.
The matter was heard in front of a full Bench and was finalised on 5 November, with judgment reserved.
The SCA relied on precedent that an order is appealable if the decision is final in effect, and not susceptible to alteration by a court of first instance.
The court found that the interim orders were not final and that they would be reconsidered by the full court hearing the counter spoliation matter. The only issues excluded from the determination of the court was the question of the return of the building materials seized by the Anti-Land Invasion Unit, the compensation of R2 000 in lieu of loss of personal belongings, and the question of costs.
The SCA found that the city was ‘not precluded from evicting persons, but merely prohibited from doing so without judicial supervision’, and that the orders were not final in effect, notes News24.
The only part of the appeal that was upheld was regarding the compensation. The court found that the relief sought was of a final nature and should not have been awarded in the interim.
It also found there was insufficient detail on the papers as to the nature of the items taken and from whom they had been taken.
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.
