Engagement needed prior to eviction
The state has a constitutional obligation to engage with unlawful occupiers before seeking an eviction to ensure that the poor are treated with dignity and that their rights are not trampled on.
A Cape Times report says this is according to North West High Court (Mahikeng) Acting Judge Morgan, who turned down an application by the JB Marks Municipality in Potchefstroom to evict about 255 occupiers from land zoned for ‘open space’.
Morgan stressed the fact that it was vital that evictions were carried out justly, and those being evicted were treated with the dignity that the Constitution has granted to each and every individual in SA regardless of their social standing, whether they are property owners occupiers.
‘It is trite that SA is experiencing a housing crisis, with its harsh consequences being felt the most by those who are indigent and financially marginalised. This housing crisis has rendered a sundry of constitutional rights and promises hollow and illusionary. The right to housing is interlinked with the enjoyment of many rights – such as the right to dignity, the right to privacy, and the right to sufficient water and food,’ Morgan said.
The municipality, which is under business rescue, turned to the court to have the illegal occupiers evicted and their shacks demolished, adds the Cape Times report.
According to it, the people did not occupy the shelters, and if they did, then they had done so for less than six months.
Thus, the municipality argued, the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from & Unlawful Occupation of Land Act did not apply.
The homeless, on the other hand, claimed they had been staying there for longer than six months. They said they had nowhere to go and they would be rendered homeless, as the municipality had not offered them alternative accommodation.
They told the court that the government was failing them, as many of them had applied for RDP houses as far back as 25 years ago.
Morgan noted that while the Constitution recognised the rights of the homeless, the persisting housing crisis rendered some of these ideals nugatory.
‘It is well-documented that the housing crisis that now characterises post-apartheid SA can be traced back to a conglomeration of legislation enacted during colonisation and under apartheid,’ he said.
The judge added that the government's inefficiency and corruption over the past two decades had exacerbated the housing crisis.
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.
