DURBAN HIGH COURT STOPS THOUSANDS OF EVICTIONS
20 August 2015
Today Judge Mokgohloa, sitting in the Durban High Court handed down judgment in MEC for Human Settlements, KwaZulu Natal v. eThekwini Municipality and Others. The Judge struck down a temporary court order that had been used by the MEC and the Durban Municipality to evict thousands of poor people from informal settlements in Durban.
The MEC claimed that the order was used only to prevent land invasions. But SERI, acting on behalf of Abahlali baseMjondolo, and thirty of its members, whose homes the Durban Municipality destroyed 5 times by relying on the order, argued that it was an “eviction order in disguise”. SERI argued that the order was intended to progressively remove the occupants of more than 1 500 parcels of open land in Durban without having to follow normal court procedures or give notice to the occupants.
Judge Mokogohloa agreed. Eviction, the court confirmed, is governed by the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE) and section 26 (3) of the Constitution. The process prescribed by those instruments must be followed before the eviction of unlawful occupiers is undertaken.
PIE and the Constitution are intended to respect the dignity of the poor, and ensure that alternative accommodation is provided where needed. The interim order granted to the MEC was not sought or granted under PIE, nor could it be, because it allowed for people to be evicted without court oversight and without notice.