Just two days before their eviction deadline, 161 people occupying Transnet-owned land in Cape Town lost another legal battle when the Western Cape High Court refused their application for leave to appeal, reports News24.

In a ruling delivered on Monday, Judge Derek Wille found that the occupiers had failed to demonstrate that their appeal had a realistic prospect of success or that there was a compelling reason for the matter to be heard by a higher court.

The ruling follows Wille’s July order that the occupiers should vacate three Transnet properties by 30 September 2026. 

The properties are located in Woodstock and Salt River, including land alongside the N1.

At the centre of the latest appeal was whether the occupiers could be evicted without emergency accommodation, as well as the court’s findings on alleged criminal activity in and around the occupied properties.

Wille rejected the argument that emergency accommodation was an automatic prerequisite for an eviction.

He said the occupiers had failed to place sufficient evidence before the court to establish that their eviction would render them homeless.

Wille said he had given the occupiers an opportunity to provide detailed information about their individual circumstances.

Wille added that the spokesperson’s affidavit had not been confirmed under oath and that it contained hearsay on the personal circumstances of several people.

The judge added that his ruling did not mean the state’s constitutional obligations in eviction proceedings were extinguished. 

The court also rejected an argument that the July judgment conflicted with case law concerning the regularisation of undocumented foreign nationals.

Wille said the eviction judgment had not determined whether undocumented foreign nationals could receive assistance.

Instead, he said, the case turned on evidence concerning homelessness and the availability of suitable land, while immigration-status issues remained unresolved, notes News24.

The court’s findings on alleged criminal activity were another major point of contention in the appeal. The proceedings were not a criminal trial, Wille said, and the question was not whether individual occupiers had been proved to have committed specific crimes.

Wille found that the grounds advanced by the occupiers did not meet the threshold for leave to appeal.

The application for leave to appeal was refused, with no order as to costs.

Full News24 report

Judgment