End of the road for Paradise Park families
More than 100 families living in Paradise Park, Hermanus, are set to be evicted after their applications for leave to appeal were dismissed by the Western Cape High Court.
GroundUp reports that Judge Andre Le Grange dismissed two applications by Paradise Park residents, one for leave to appeal their eviction, and another to appeal the recusal application against the judge.
Residents have been resisting attempts to evict them for seven years. Located off the R44 in Vermont, Paradise Park is home to more than 100 people who are mostly pensioners and social grant beneficiaries.
Some people have been living in Paradise Park for 40 years.
The residents were served eviction notices in 2015 but engaged the owner in a legal battle for their homes.
According to Le Grange’s April ruling which confirmed the eviction orders against the residents, the previous owner, Raymond Schonegevel, suffered financial difficulties after engaging in court battles with the Overberg Municipality over compliance fees.
Schonegevel then sold the 22-hectare private park to a developer in 2017, who persisted with the evictions.
The Overberg Municipality, which is listed as a respondent in the eviction order application, says it has offered temporary relocation units within the Stanford Housing Development – about 30km away.
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.
