Legal Articles and Guides

Sixteen months since Acting Judge Bernard Martin reserved judgment in the matter over emergency housing for many destitute families facing evictions in the Drakenstein Municipality, the ruling is yet to be delivered.

A judgment reserved in the Western Cape High Court has been delayed for about 15 months in a matter about emergency housing for families facing evictions in the Drakenstein Municipality.

Property mogul Keith Bothongo has vowed to institute further litigation against the Department of Public Works for alleged defamation, loss of income, and reputational damage after winning a first round about rental payments.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has ordered the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure (DPWI) to pay millions in outstanding rent to property management company Bothongo Group after months of non-payment.

The owners of a Johannesburg business premises who kicked out a sangoma, along with some of the ‘tools of her trade’, from the office she was renting has been ordered by the court to immediately allow her back into her office.

Flamboyant pop music sensation and community activist Nomsa Mazwai is embroiled in a legal tug of war with the Jabulani Manor Body Corporate in Soweto.

Research by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri) shows the Johannesburg Central Magistrate’s Court has failed to implement the law in its eviction rulings.

The long-awaited Property Practitioner Act – which came into operation on 1 February – has recognised the need for transformation within the property sector and the protection of consumers.

Alternate dispute resolution

The Covid-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns and restrictions have impacted negatively on many businesses, and there has been much uncertainty as to whether commercial tenants of leased property are entitled to claim a remission of rental if their trading activities are curtailed.

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.

'Unprecedented circumstances’ brought on by the Covid-19 lockdown regulations have seen a legal battle between a commercial tenant and a landlord thrashed out in the Western Cape High Court.

The Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment in the eviction case of 46 homeless people in District Six, whose structures were forcibly destroyed by law enforcement officials two weeks ago.

“Unlawful occupiers” of land have strong rights under our Constitution and other laws, and most property owners and landlords understand the need to tread carefully whenever the issue of eviction arises. They are required to comply fully with the provisions of PIE (the “Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act”) – certainly achievable but never to be taken lightly.

The SCA has upheld an appeal against an order of the Western Cape High Court, over a lease agreement between Capital Propfund 4 and Harbour Arch Investment Holdings.