Chantelle Benjamin
20 February 2008
Johannesburg — THE Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that the City of Johannesburg could not evict thousands of tenants from the inner city unless adequate alternative accommodation had been considered, a ruling that makes it difficult for municipalities to evict tenants from derelict buildings.
The ruling was welcomed yesterday by civil society groups, but could present problems for larger municipalities, as they try to attract business and spruce themselves up for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The case was brought by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies and Webber Wentzel Bowens on behalf of 400 residents who were about to be evicted after the city found that their buildings were a health and safety risk.
The Constitutional Court said that before obtaining an eviction order from a court, a municipality had to show that it had engaged "meaningfully" with tenants, and considered whether tenants would be rendered homeless if evicted, whether the city could help alleviate those dire consequences, and whether the buildings could be made safe for an interim period.
Judge Zak Yacoob criticised Johannesburg for failing to consult the tenants before evicting them. He dismissed argument that the sheer number of residents made it difficult to "meaningfully" engage with them all, saying the city should have appointed workers to meet the homeless when it adopted its City Regeneration strategy in 2003.
"Indeed, the larger the number of people potentially to be affected by eviction, the greater the need for structured, consistent and careful engagement. "
Yacoob acknowledged the city's efforts to consult the 400 tenants and devise a housing plan after the Constitutional Court issued an interim order to that effect.
The court found unconstitutional a section of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, which made it a crime to remain in a building after being ordered to leave by the city. Such an order had to be made by a court, the judges ruled.
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