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Jhb eviction orders 'illegal'
09/11/2005 09:45 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Urgent interdicts to carry out eviction orders against Johannesburg inner city residents are often obtained illegally, according to the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS).
Jackie Dugard, head of the centre's housing and basic services programme, lashed out at the way the city avoided consultation with the occupants of "bad" buildings before seeking their eviction.
"It is plainly unreasonable, and in violation of South African constitutional law to seek the eviction of large numbers of poor people without any effort to discuss alternatives to eviction, or engage with them on the manner in which any consequential risks to their health and safety might be addressed."
Interdicts under the Building Standards Act were invariably sought on an urgent basis, with occupants having as little as a week in which to respond, said CALS and the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE).
"The interdicts - usually obtained without the high court hearing from the occupier - are not executed for several months," they pointed out.
"In the recent Bree Chambers, BJ Alexander and Eagle Mount evictions, the City Council sat on 'urgent' eviction orders for several months before executing them in dawn raids on both buildings."
Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo was refusing to divulge who was under threat of eviction under 60 interdicts recently granted by the high court. This left the residents of 60 inner city buildings facing imminent eviction without even knowing it, the organisations said.
"Given the process followed by the city, it is not surprising that few residents are aware of the council's intention to evict until the Red Ants (security guards who carry out evictions) appear at their door," said COHRE deputy-director Jean du Plessis.
"We acknowledge that conditions in many buildings in the Johannesburg inner city are intolerably dangerous. But ejecting their residents onto the streets is not a realistic and lasting solution to the problem of unsafe living conditions.
"Occupiers of 'bad' buildings are exposed to far worse dangers on the streets than in the buildings, whether it be from the elements or from criminals who may prey on them and their possessions," said Du Plessis.
Masondo's spokesperson Zandile Nkutha couldn't be comment on the allegation. She hadn't received a copy of the report, she said.
- SAPA
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