Case Law[2023] ZAGPPHC 754South Africa
Seale and Others v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Another (2023/078684) [2023] ZAGPPHC 754 (25 August 2023)
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Seale and Others v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Another (2023/078684) [2023] ZAGPPHC 754 (25 August 2023)
Seale and Others v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Another (2023/078684) [2023] ZAGPPHC 754 (25 August 2023)
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sino date 25 August 2023
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
CASE NO: 2023-078684
REPORTABLE: YES/
NO
OF
INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: YES/
NO
REVISED:
YES/
NO
Date:
25 August 2023
WJ
du Plessis
In
the matter between:
NAKAMPE
RECTOR SEALE
FIRST
APPLICANT
THE
RABIE RIDGE COMMUNITY
SECOND
TO 291TH APPLICANT
And
THE
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG
FIRST
RESPONDENT
METROPOLITAN
MUNICIPAILTY
MMC
FOR HOUSING, CITY OF JOHANNESBURG
SECOND
RESPONDENT
METROPOITAN
MUNICIPALITY,
ANTHEA
NATASHA LEITCH N.O.
JUDGMENT
du plessis aj
[1]
This is an urgent application for relief
under s 38 of the Constitution, which empowers a court to grant
appropriate relief if approached
by a person alleging that a right in
the Bill of Rights has been infringed. The Applicants ask for
restoration of the
status quo ante
of
their possession and structures on land, an interdict against
eviction without a court order and that the Applicants refrain
from
harassing the Applicants.
[2]
The Applicant community comprises 122
female-headed households, and 128 other households. The rest of the
836 members are children.
The community consists of impoverished
families who previously rented or squatted elsewhere and could no
longer afford to pay rent,
even more so after the COVID-19 pandemic
that rendered many applicants unemployed. The First Respondent is the
City of Johannesburg
(hereafter the COJ), the local authority with
the necessary jurisdiction over the property, and the Second
Respondent is the MMC
for Human Settlements in Gauteng.
#
# Background
Background
[3]
A small group of the Applicants settled on
the property around 2017, but the majority took occupation after the
Covid-19 pandemic
during 2022 and 2023. As part of part B of the
Application, the applicants set out their efforts to engage with the
Responents
to find a more permanent solution regarding housing, but
this has not borne fruit so far.
[4]
Currently, the Applicants occupy various
dwellings on the land known as portion of Farm Allandale,
Registration Division IR, Province
Gauteng ("Farm Allandale")
that the Respondents caused to be demolished. These demolitions were
done relying on an interdict
granted by Sutherland J in 2017 (the
"2017 order"). The 2017 order was granted against "the
unknown people who intend
invading [the property" as the first
Respondents, and "the unknown people who invaded the property"
as the second
Respondents.
[5]
The
specific demolitions that triggered this urgent application took
place between 10h00 – 13h00 on 14 July 2023 and again
on 21
July 2023, the Applicants argue without an eviction order.
[1]
However, this is a regular
occurrence, with such evictions taking place "on an almost 3
weekly basis for at least the past
3 years".
[2]
After the round of evictions in July 2023, the Applicants approached
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) for assistance. On the advice
of the
LHR, community members took pictures to document the eviction,
knowing that the municipalities often claim that the demolished
structures were unoccupied.
[6]
The Respondents state that they only use
the interdict to demolish unoccupied structures, prevent people from
settling on the land,
and not to evict people from living on the
land. In fact, they were dismantling false shelters– unoccupied
but only filled
with a few household items on the day of the
demolition, to create the impression that they occupied the property.
". According
to the supporting affidavit of the service
providers, on the day of the evictions, the team took pictures inside
and outside of
the structures, certifying them unoccupied, to later
demolish them. They attached photographs of the empty structures they
demolished,
some half-built, some finished.
[7]
The Applicants deny this. Their case is
that the community has occupied the property since 2017, but mostly
since 2022. They also
submitted photographs of the eviction. In these
photographs are trucks filled with material and a water cannon (the
JMPD confirmed
this during the inspection
in
loco
) spraying water on what looks like
burning debris, amongst other things. There are also photographs of
household items like a plastic
bathtub, cutlery, matrasses, blankets,
pillows and the like lying outside in the open.
[8]
In videos uploaded there is a disabled
mother who, after the eviction, made a shelter from the plastic
covers that remained, for
her and her baby to sleep under. During the
inspection
in loco
,
she was sitting in front of a rebuilt structure with the same red
plastic sheet next to it.
[9]
The Respondents did not address the
photographs and the videos in their answering affidavit other than
challenging the veracity
of the videos and the pictures and denying
that they were taken on the property. This was addressed with an
inspection
in loco
,
set out below.
[10]
The Applicants also had the legal
representatives of the Lawyers for Human Rights attend to the
premises to witness the occupation
of the structures by the
Applicants first-hand.
[11]
After
the July evictions, Ms Louise du Plessis from the LHR wrote a letter
to the CoJ to notify them of the evictions, also notifying
the CoJ of
their view that the evictions are unlawful because it is not done in
terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction and
Unlawful Occupation
of Land Act
[3]
(hereafter PIE),
noting their willingness to meet and explore the potential to have
the issue resolved. They received no formal
response to the letter.
Instead, four days later, 30 heavily armed JMPD officers and 50
so-called Red Ants arrived with six trucks
to demolish the
structures. They state that the demolition took place in the presence
of most community members (being unemployed),
including many
children. Some of the materials not uploaded onto the truck were
burned, and many other personal items, such as
identity documents,
electrical appliances, pots, places, clothing, shoes etc. were lost
or damaged.
[12]
The same thing happened a week later, on 21
July 2023. After the application was served on 8 August 2023, the
Respondents executed
two more evictions, namely on 9 August 2023, and
on 18 August 2023, on the day the parties were supposed to have a
mediation discussion.
After this, some families managed to rebuild
scant homes to stay in, while others took occupation by other members
or in nearby
areas.
[13]
An
in loco
inspection confirmed that all the photographs were taken on the
property (only one could not be confirmed). During the inspection,
the legal representatives and I, as well as members of the
Respondents, were guided by the photographer Mr. Seanego, accompanied
by about 30 community members. On the inspection, a mix of occupied
and unoccupied, complete (about 55) and incomplete structures
stood
on the unfenced property. On the other side of the road is an equally
big piece of land, unoccupied. A community member explained
that that
is private land; they do not occupy it.
[14]
Some half-built structures were next to
burned grass – a community stated that that is where the
materials were burned. Another
community member explained that the
structures are half-built because they do not have the money to
rebuild them all at once. While
he is building, he sleeps at his
friend's shack.
# Relief sought
Relief sought
[15]
The Applicants, therefore, ask for a
constitutional remedy under section 38 of the Constitution since
their constitutional rights
of housing and property were infringed.
They claim restoration of their structures and R3 500 per family
to replace their
lost belongings. During the exchange of pleadings, a
constitutional damages claim has been moved to part B of the relief.
The applicants
indicate that a "one and a half" shack from
corrugated iron on average costs R3 500, while wooden structures
cost
around R1 500 to replace.
[16]
The Applicants also ask for various
interdicts. They state they have clear rights in the Constitution,
namely the right not to be
evicted without a court order and not to
have property arbitrarily deprived, along with the right to privacy
and dignity. They
state that they will suffer irreparable harm in the
form of constant evictions and that they have tried to engage with
the CoJ
to no avail, meaning that this is their only remedy.
[17]
They also argue that this matter is urgent,
as they are constantly being deprived of their possession and evicted
without a valid
court order, often rendering them homeless (until
they rebuild a new structure). There is no substantial redress in due
course
for this. They explain their delay of a month in bringing this
application regarding the logistical challenges of such a large
community scattered all over the place and the limited resources
within the LHR. The delay was not due to the Applicants.
[18]
The Respondents first answer with
procedural arguments: that the Applicants lack authority, so they
filed a Rule 7(1) Notice challenging
the LHR's authority to represent
the people. The LHR provided this by uploading 292 signed forms. In
the Replying Affidavit the
Applicants indicate that once that was
uploaded, this caused the Respondents to argue that the matter should
be removed from the
urgent roll because the papers exceed 500 pages.
[19]
They also argue that the matter is not
urgent, mainly because many people are not homeless as they indicated
they are staying with
friends, or had re-established themselves on
the property or elsewhere. They question the logistical delay in
bringing the application,
stating that "[m]ounting grounds of
urgency on such flimsy grounds by such a reputable law clinic is most
regrettable and
amounts to reckless and vexation litigation bordering
on abuse of court process and to the annoyance of the City of
Johannesburg".
They warn that a punitive cost order would be
sought if not removed.
[20]
They then raise what they say are material
disputes of facts, namely the sporadic evictions, showing that the
Applicants do not
have peaceful and undisturbed possession. They also
challenge the identity of the Applicants, adding that there is
already litigation
about the same property in the local division,
Johannesburg. The Applicants can also not be homeless and
re-establish themselves
on the property simultaneously. All this,
they claim, is a bona fide dispute of fact. The Applicants, in
argument, stated that
there is not a
bona
fide
dispute of fact.
[21]
As for the litigation, the Applicants
stated in their Replying Affidavit that various communities in Rabie
Ridge sought legal advice
but that the Applicants, in this case, are
not part of those cases. Eventually, three orders were uploaded, two
from 2019 and one
recently where the court ordered restoration of
certain property. The first two were struck from the roll (it is not
indicated
why), while in the last, there was partial relief granted
in that building materials and various utensils must be restored. The
rest of the relief (relating to the 2017 court order, and an
interdict against evictions without a court order) was struck for
lack of urgency.
[22]
Lastly, the Respondents state, since they
seek a final interdict, they must show that they have a clear right,
which they don't
have. This is so, state the Respondents, because
they are "illegal occupiers" (sic) on their own version and
have unlawfully
invaded the property. They thus have no right.
Moreover, an alternative remedy to the dissatisfaction with the 2017
order is to
bring a rescission application or to go for mediation in
terms of Rule 41A.
[23]
On
the well-known
Plascon
Evans
-rule,
[4]
I find that the Applicants' version prevails. Mr Seale deposed an
affidavit of events that he witnessed. The photographs and videos
were only questioned for authenticity and not disclosing the location
and time taken. The location problem was solved by an inspection
in
loco
.
Not only did the Applicants submit photos that the shelters were
demolished, doing away from the Respondents' contention that
they do
not use the interdict to evict people, but the Respondents Answering
Affidavit deposed off does not indicate that the allegation
that
community members place material in the house to dupe the authorities
by placing household items in the shacks into believing
that the
structures are occupied, the information submitted also do not fall
within the personal knowledge of the deponent. The
two supplementary
affidavits filed belatedly without leave from the court document the
normal modus operandi of the Respondents
service providers, namely,
to target unoccupied structures. Even if this is so, this will have
no bearing on the outcome for the
reasons below.
#
# Ad urgency
Ad urgency
[24]
Urgency
is a procedural issue that allows a court to forego the forms and
services required by the regulations. It is the applicant's
responsibility to demonstrate the circumstances that make the matter
urgent and the absence of substantial remedies if the matter
is not
heard as a matter of urgency.
[5]
This is not the equivalent of irreparable harm required before
granting interim relief, but something less.
[6]
[25]
The pressing question is whether the
applicant will be granted significant relief in due course. This
means that a situation will
be considered urgent if the applicant can
show that they need immediate court involvement and that if their
case is not heard sooner
than the ordinary course, as any
prospective future court order will no longer provide them with the
essential legal protection.
[26]
Being rendered sporadically homeless is
urgent. There is a new sense of urgency in every demolition of every
structure that renders
the occupants homeless, especially if this is
done unlawfully. The evictions are furthermore done in an
unconstitutional manner,
rendering the matter even more urgent.
#
# Ad merits
Ad merits
[27]
Almost
20 years ago, the Constitutional Court in
Port
Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers
[7]
placed
PIE within its historical context. During apartheid, evictions were
done in terms of
Prevention
of Illegal Squatting Act
(hereafter
PISA),
[8]
which
criminalised unlawful occupation of land. Unlawful occupation had to
be dealt with swiftly, without regard to the occupiers'
personal
circumstances. Likewise, remedies like the
rei
vindicatio
relied
on the strong right of possession of the owner, with the occupier
only allowed to occupy the premises if she could raise
(and prove) a
defence, such as occupying the property in terms of a contract.
[28]
The Constitution changed this, specifically
s 26(3) that states:
No one may be evicted
from their home, or have their home demolished, without an order of
the court
made after considering all the relevant circumstance.
(own emphasis)
[29]
S 26(3) affords unlawful occupiers a right
not to be evicted (or have a home and shelter demolished) without a
court order. PIE
was enacted to give effect to s 26(3) and lays out
the process in which eviction must take place, laying down the
requirement that
the court can only order an eviction if it would be
just and equitable.
[30]
In
terms of PIE
[9]
"evict"
means "to deprive a person of occupation of a building or
structure". "Building or structure"
includes "any
hut, shack, tent or similar structure or any other form of temporary
or permanent dwelling or shelter".
[31]
PIE applies to structures occupied as
homes, specifically read in line with s26(3), providing that no one
may be evicted from a
"home", or no such structure may be
demolished unless a court order is granted regarding PIE. Eviction
from such structures
can thus not be done by an interdict.
[32]
While I have rejected the Respondents
version that they unlawfully evicted the people relaying on an
interdict, even if on their
version they only demolished unoccupied
structures, their actions amount to spoliation that entitles the
Applicants to restoration.
[33]
A
growing line of authority clarifies that once the poles are in the
ground, possession is established and can only be removed by
a court
order (where the owner may use common law remedies). Many of these
rely on
Yeko
v Qana
[10]
where
the court stated that "the possession which must be proved is
not possession in the juridical sense; it may be enough
if the
holding by the applicant was with the intention of securing some
benefit for himself."
[11]
This approach was applied in the context of the dismantling of
incomplete structures in
South
African Human Rights Commission v City of Cape Town
[12]
where the court held that
"
[i]
t would appear that the peaceful and undisturbed possession was
physically manifested by the occupiers commencing construction
of
informal structures on the land. The structures need not be completed
nor occupied for the possessory element of spoliation,
as defined
by
Yeko,
to
be perfected
".
[34]
In
Residents
of Setjwela Informal Settlement v City of Johannesburg: Department of
Housing, Region E
[13]
, the court faced similar facts as in this case in deciding whether
to confirm an interdict or not. In this case, the court stated
[16] In a sense, the
Respondent found itself between the proverbial rock and a hard place
in this regard. If there was not sufficient
presence on behalf of the
applicants to constitute possession, there was probably not enough to
demolish; if the shacks had reached
such a state of completion that
they could be (and therefore likely was) occupied, PIE applied.
Therefore, since the Respondent
did in fact demolish, then, unless
the Respondent would concede that PIE applied (which it did not),
there was enough of possession
on the part of the applicants to
constitute spoliation for purposes of the
mandament van spolie
.
[17] Some reflection on
the underlying rationale for the mandament underscores the point. It
is to prevent self-help; to foster
respect for the rule of law; and
to encourage the establishment and maintenance of a regulated
society.
[18] If local authorities
were permitted to move in with heavy engineering equipment, without
first obtaining court sanction, whenever
people moved onto their
land, that encourages conduct which in our society with its history
is reminiscent of a time best forgotten.
[35]
The
mandament
van spolie
is the available remedy where the property (shelters) were so
spoliated. Where the property has been irreparably damaged, the
question then is if this is the appropriate remedy.
[14]
[36]
I
am well aware of the arguments, captured to some extent in
Tswelopele
[15]
but since then developed, that state that the
mandament
should be developed in line with the Constitution to make it possible
to, in some instances, require the spoliator to restore or
construct
what has been demolished, even when alternative or replacement
materials are required. This rests on the dicta in
Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Association of South Africa and Another: In re Ex Parte
President of the Republic of South Africa
[16]
that we have one system of law that "is shaped by the
Constitution which is the supreme law, and all law, including the
common
law, derives its force from the Constitution and is subject to
constitutional control", and that common law remedies should
rather be developed in line with the Constitution than regarded as
shielded from the impact of the Constitution.
[37]
This
argument is not before me, and the urgent court is arguably not the
place to (posslbly) develop the intricacies of the common
law in line
with the Constitution
mero
muto
.
It is a court where robust remedies, often of interim nature, need to
be crafted. The court mostlyorders a "holding position"
to
enable the parties to ventilate the main issues in the due course.
For that, the remedy in
Tswelopele
[17]
vindicates the Applicants' constitutional rights and the Constitution
in general, and orders restoration. This entails that the
occupiers
must get their shelters back and that the Respondents should
reconstruct them. If the materials have been destroyed,
they must be
replaced.
[38]
This
is also the remedy the Applicants seek. They ask for relief for the
violation of their fundamental rights as envisaged in s
38 of the
Constitution, namely "appropriate relief". In the context
of the demolition of structures, the Supreme Court
of Appeal in
Tswelopele
Non-Profit Organisation and Others v City of Tshwane Metropolitan
Municipality
[18]
provided a constitutional remedy of restoration where property has
been irreparably damaged. To have access to this remedy, there
must
be constitutional infringements.
[39]
There is, of course, a bouquet of other
Constitutional Rights at play here. Section 1(c) clearly states that
our foundation values
include the supremacy of the Constitution and
the rule of law. That includes the importance of local municipalities
being subject
to the Constitution and being bound by the law.
[40]
The Respondents have forsaken their duties
in terms of s 7(2) which places an obligation on the municipalities
to respect, protect,
promote and fulfil the rights in the Bill of
Rights, including infringing the following specific constitutional
rights:
i.
Section
26(3) of the Constitution, in that they were evicted from their homes
and had their homes demolished without an order of
court made after
considering all the relevant circumstances. It is not only s 26(3),
but the whole of s 26 that is implicated –
from the realisation
of the right to adequate housing to the meaningful engagement when
someone might be homeless because of an
eviction.
[19]
ii.
Section
25(1) in that they were arbitrarily deprived of their property,
similar to what the Supreme Court of Appeal found in
Ngomane
v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
.
[20]
Regarding the FNB test, it is clear that the destroyed property
amounts to "property" worthy of protection. The material
is
used to construct a home, with their utensils, bedding and whatever
else they need for day-to-day living. There was a deprivation
of this
property, which was arbitrary as it was not sanctioned by law. The
Applicants' property rights are therefore infringed.
iii.
Judging from some of the pictures, with
bedding and belongings strewn outside and the video indicating people
living outside, the
Applicants' rights to privacy were infringed.
Arguably, the security people walking around on the land and peering
into structures
sometimes amount to an infringement of the
precariously little privacy the occupiers have.
iv.
The
infringement of their s 10 right to human dignity should by now seem
self-evident. If not, it lies in the routine eviction from
what
should be the Applicants' places of safety, done without a proper
court order. The fact that while the Applicants are in the
process of
engaging with the Respondents to find solutions, this conduct
continues. On the very day that the mediation was planned,
the
Respondents launched another eviction. As was stated in the
Grootboom
case:
"human beings are required to be treated as human beings".
[21]
[41]
There
is thus very clearly a right, if not several rights, that are
infringed by the Respondents' conduct.
Motswagae
and Others v Rustenburg Local Municipality
[22]
confirms that occupiers have a right to peaceful and undisturbed
occupation of their homes unless a court authorises interference.
That is a clear right. Further, based on
Machele
v Mailula
,
[23]
the indignity suffered through losing one's home, even temporarily,
will always be irreparable harm. Lastly, granting the interdict
will
ensure that the Applicants are afforded the protection the
Constitution and PIE gives. The interdict will only force the
Respondents to comply with the law.
[42]
Concerning
the 2017 order: In
Kayamandi
Town Committee v Mkhwaso
[24]
the court held that determining whether a particular act is to be
classed as a judicial act is whether there is a
lis
inter partes
.
The court stated that
[25]
A failure to identify
defendants or respondents would seem to be destructive of the notion
that a Court's order operates only inter
partes… An order
against respondents not identified by name (or perhaps by 2
individualised description) in the process
commencing action or (in
very urgent cases, brought orally) on the record would have the
generalised effect typical of legislation.
It would be a decree and
not a Court order at all.
[43]
In
Various
Erven Philippi v Monwood Investment Trust Company (Pty) Ltd
[26]
the court stated that parties to legal proceedings must be clearly
identified and that "persons intending to unlawfully occupy
the
erf" are not in any real sense an ascertainable group.
[44]
I
agree with the above contentions. Counsel for the Respondents argued
that on the strength of
Oudekraal,
[27]
even an unlawful court order stands until rescinded.
Oudekraal
dealt with unlawful administrative action, but be that as it may.
Counsel for the Applicants also rightly questioned who would
be
entitled to bring such an application.
[45]
Furthermore, an interdict sought to prevent
harm from happening (such as the invasion of land), is only for
prevention of
imminent
harm. A 2017 interdict could not have referred to harm so far in the
future.
[46]
Holding
on to an interdict so long turns the interdict into a one-sided
decree, as the now unknown people intending to unlawfully
occupy
property are not afforded to contest the granting of a final
interdict in court and could not have contested the granting
of the
final interdict at the time it was granted.
[28]
They will also not be identified during proceedings
[29]
as there are no proceedings.
[47]
The
identities of those respondents, in fact, now change daily.
[30]
The people "intending to unlawfully invade the land" when
the order was granted are not the Applicants.
[48]
The 2017 order is abused as a continuous
justification for self-help by the Respondent. Furthermore, when an
interdict such as the
one that the CoJ relies on is used to evict the
people from the land, this contravenes s 26(3), as it allows for an
eviction before
a court has considered any relevant circumstances. As
stated above, the Constitution requires more, and PIE, not an
interdict,
was designed to ensure that the process also considers the
occupiers' circumstances.
# Conclusion
Conclusion
[49]
The
Constitution not only changed the paradigm of eviction from
criminalising occupation to criminalising unlawful eviction,
[31]
it also requires us to reconsider how we refer to people who
unlawfully occupy land. In
Port
Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers,
[32]
the Constitutional Court stated that PIE expressly requires the court
to "infuse elements of grace and compassion into the
formal
structure of the law". Constantly unlawfully evicting vulnerable
people, demolishing their homes, and loading the material
onto trucks
or burning them on site is the opposite of grace and compassion.
[50]
We are dealing here with 291 applicants,
each person having recorded a short moment in their life story on
their power of attorney
questionnaire submitted in terms of the Rule
7(1) notice for this application. For instance, Mr Buthelezi moved
onto the land on
3 April 2022 with his wife and two minor children.
They lost 3 shacks, blankets, clothes, sponge, food and shoes when
their home
was demolished. He is at the land building another shack.
Mr Mtsikwa moved onto the land in December 2022 with his wife and
four
children and lost his shack and the material inside the shack.
They live in a backyard now. Ms Ramalatswa has been on the land since
2018 with her three children, and "[w]here they have destroyed
[her] shack, [she has] rebuild it".
[51]
It is impossible to list every applicant in
the judgment, but that should not detract from the fact that we are
not dealing here
with "unknown people". These people have
human
rights as contained in the Bill of Rights and protected in the
Constitution. Just because they are already living on the margins
of
society does not make them invisible social outcasts or nuisances,
however much their presence may frustrate the Respondents.
[52]
I, therefore, grant the order for
restoration as set out. Should the Respondents, for whatever
operational reasons, not be able
to do the reconstructions
themselves, they should pay the Applicants R1500 per shelter to
enable them to restore the property themselves.
The order for the
payment of this money is part of the order of restoration and should
not be viewed as damages – it is part
of the duty of
restoration.
[53]
Throughout
the process, the Respondents insisted that evictions had never taken
place, nor would take place, in terms of the 2017
order. However, no
explanation was offered for the pictures indicating that such
evictions took place, other than stating that
the court cannot know
the dates at which this occurred. The Respondents argue that when the
court exercises its discretion as to
costs, it may also attach ways
to the moral, as opposed to the legal, obligations of the
parties.
[33]
[54]
In this regard, I consider that evictions
took place on the date scheduled for mediation. Despite this, the
Respondents insisted
that the
Applicants'
conduct was contemptuous (as they occupied the land disregarding the
2017 order) and that it amounts to self-help. In conducting
the
proceedings, there was no evidence that the Respondents have even
attempted to "infuse elements of grace and compassion
into the
formal structure of the law". A punitive cost order against the
Respondents, jointly and severally, is therefore
warranted in this
case.
# Order
Order
[55]
I, therefore, make the following order:
1.
The non-compliance with the rules of this
honourable court is condoned, and the matter is heard on an urgent
basis in terms of rule
6(12)(a) of the Uniform Rules of Court.
2.
The evictions affected by the Respondents
and/or representatives of the Respondents at Farm Allandale are
unlawful and unconstitutional.
3.
The Respondents to restore the
status
quo ante
of the Applicants, which
includes constructing emergency temporary accommodation for the
Applicants whose shelters have been demolished
at the time of the
hearing of this matter and who still require them, within 72 hours of
granting this order.
4.
Should the Respondents not be able to
restore possession as per (3), then the Respondents must pay R1500
per shack to the Applicants
within 72 hours of granting this order to
enable them to do so themselves. The attorneys of the Applicants are
to facilitate such
a process.
5.
The Respondents and/or any of the
Respondents' representatives are barred from evicting or seeking to
evict the Applicants without
an eviction order.
6.
The Respondents are to refrain from
intimidating, threatening, harassing and/or assaulting the
Applicants.
7.
The Respondents are to refrain from causing
any damage to the Applicants' property, including but not limited to
their personal
belongings and building materials.
8.
The Respondents are to pay the costs of
this application on the scale between attorney and own client.
WJ du Plessis
Acting Judge of the High
Court
Delivered: This
judgement is handed down electronically by uploading it to the
electronic file of this matter on CaseLines.
It will be sent to the
parties/their legal representatives by email.
Counsel
for the applicant:
Ms
Coetzee
Instructed
by:
Lawyers
for Human Rights
Counsel
for the Respondent:
Mr
Mosikli
Mr
Qithi
Instructed
by:
Popela
Maake Inc
Date
of the hearing:
23
August 2023
Date
of judgment:
25
August 2023
[1]
FA
para 23.
[2]
FA para 27.
[3]
19 of 1998.
[4]
Plascon-Evans
Paints Ltd v Van Riebeeck Paints (Pty) Ltd
[1984] ZASCA 51
;
1984 (3) SA 623
(A) at 634E – 635D.
[5]
Mogalakwena
Local Municipality v Provincial Executive Council, Limpopo
[2014]
ZAGPPHC 400.
[6]
[2012]
JOL 28244
(GSJ) at [7].
[7]
2005
1 SA 217
(CC) paras 8-13.
[8]
Prevention
of Illegal Squatting Act
51 of 1951.
[9]
S1(i).
[10]
1973 (4) SA 735
(A) at 739H).
[11]
See also
Fischer
and Another v Ramahlele
(203/2014)
[2014] ZASCA 88
;
2014 (4) SA 614
(SCA);
[2014] 3 All SA
395
(SCA) par 22.
[12]
2021
2 SA 565
(WCC) para 83.
[13]
[2016]
ZAGPJHC 202;
2017 (2) SA 516
(GJ) (15 July 2016).
[14]
Tswelopele
Non-Profit Organisation and Others v City of Tshwane Metropolitan
Municipality
[2007] ZASCA 70
; [2007] SCA 70 (RSA); 2007 (6) SA 511 (SCA).
[15]
Tswelopele
Non-Profit Organisation and Others v City of Tshwane Metropolitan
Municipality
[2007] ZASCA 70
; [2007] SCA 70 (RSA); 2007 (6) SA 511 (SCA).
[16]
[2000]
ZACC 1.
[17]
Tswelopele
Non-Profit Organisation and Others v City of Tshwane Metropolitan
Municipality
[2007] ZASCA 70
; [2007] SCA 70 (RSA); 2007 (6) SA 511 (SCA).
[18]
[2007]
ZASCA 70
; [2007] SCA 70 (RSA); 2007 (6) SA 511 (SCA).
[19]
City of
Johannesburg v Changing Tides 74 (Pty) Ltd and 97 others
(735/2011)[2012] ZASCA 116, amongst others.
[20]
[2018] ZASCA 57.
[21]
Government
of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom
2001 (1) SA 46 (CC).
[22]
[2013]
ZACC 1
;
2013 (3) BCLR 271
(CC);
2013 (2) SA 613
(CC) par 15.
[23]
2010 (2) SA 257 (CC).
[24]
1991
(2) SA 630.
[25]
At
634B.
[26]
(2002)
1 All SA 115 (C).
[27]
Oudekraal
Estates (Pty) Ltd v The City of Cape Town and Others
(25/08)
[2009] ZASCA 85
;
2010 (1) SA 333
(SCA) (3 September 2009)
.
[28]
See
also
Zulu
and Others v eThekwini Municipality and
Others (CCT 108/13)
[2014] ZACC 17
;
2014 (4) SA 590
(CC);
2014 (8)
BCLR 971
(CC) (6 June 2014).
[29]
Communicare
v The Persons Whose Identities are Unknown to the Applicant but who
unlawfully occupy the remainder of the consolidated
farm Bardale no.
451, Division of Stellenbosch better known as Fairdale and others
(CPD case no. 7970/03, unreported).
[30]
City
of Cape Town v Yawa
[2004]
ZAWCHC 51
(29 January 2004).
[31]
S
8(1).
[32]
([2004]
ZACC 7
[2004] ZACC 7
; ;
2005 (1) SA 217
(CC);
2004 (12) BCLR 1268
(CC) (1 October
2004) par 37. See also
Government
of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom
2001 (1) SA 46
(CC),
Port
Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers
2005 (1) SA 217 (CC),
Tswelopele
(supra), and Schubart Park Residents’ Association v City of
Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
2013 (1) SA 323 (CC).
[33]
Berkowitz
v Berkowitz 1956(3) SA 522 (SR).
sino noindex
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