Although he applauds the fairness and compassion with which SA courts now judge matters when homeless and evicted people try to find a place to live, it has to be admitted, says Paul Henry, MD of Rawson Developers, that their rulings can make life difficult for property developers.
One such ruling, he says, is that given recently in the case City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality vs Blue Moonlight Properties and Another.
Quoting the attorneys Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes, Henry said the ruling confirms the responsibility of the State to provide shelter to those 'desperate persons' who are evicted from private land '“ and if there is a delay in bringing this about the owners of the land must wait until it is a fait accompli.
Blue Moonlight is, in fact, the owner of inner city property in Johannesburg on which illegal occupiers had been established for some years. Blue Moonlight knew about this when they bought the land but relied on an eviction notice making it possible to clear this site so that they could proceed with development.
The illegal occupants attorney, while accepting that the eviction notice was in order, argued in court that the municipality housing policy was unconstitutional because it did not oblige them to provide alternative emergency housing for landless people forced to leave a site.
The municipality replied that this was the provincial or national governments duty, not theirs.
The court, in its judgement, noted that the municipality provides alternative accommodation to people moved from hazardous buildings. Surely, therefore, the municipality had an equal obligation to those evicted for other reasons '“ and, it added, this is implied by the constitution when read in conjunction with the Housing Act and the national housing code, the court rejected out of hand the municipalitys assertion that they did not have the resources to provide for evicted squatters.
The court, therefore, ruled that the municipality had to have accommodation ready for the evicted group by a certain date '“ and until then the owners/developers of the land would have to wait.
Henry commented that although he accepts the principles involved, it is beginning to look as if attempts to prevent further degradation in downtown Johannesburg and central Durban face an uphill battle '“ and, he said, he hoped a similar situation is not encountered in Cape Town which so far has seen ongoing improvement rather than deterioration.
For further information contact Paul Henry on 021 658 7100 or email paul@rawson-developers.co.za.
