STATEMENT BY L N SISULU, MP, MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, ON THE NOMZAMO (LWANDLE) MINISTERIAL ENQUIRY IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, CAPE TOWN, 23 OCTOBER 2014
Madam Speaker,
Thank you for the opportunity to make the statement and table thius Report in terms of Rule 106 of the National Assembly Rules. This Report follows my establishing a Ministerial Enquiry after the terrible events of 2 and 3 June 2014 in Lwandle in Cape Town. The events of these two days will forever remain in our collective consciousness as an indictment on us as a civilised people.
They are a testament that the poor people in the country still suffer the indignities of the forced removals of the past, especially in certain areas, where they are an inconvenience to people in affluent areas and they are superfluous, surplus labour on our farms. When there is a need to protect the privileges, the spaces and the comfort of those who benefitted from our past, the poorest of the poor are disposable and discarded.
In this particular case, the informal community, who had illegally occupied Erf 3254, were carelessly evicted and left destitute on extremely cold two days of winter. Allow me to quote here the submissions of a young girl:
I would like to tell you a story of Anelisa Manga, a 17 year old student who resided at Siyanyanzela (SANRAL Site). She narrated to the Enquiry a heartbreaking story of being unable to retrieve her belongings:
"On Monday (2nd June 2014) morning, I returned home from school that afternoon to the entrance to Siyanyanzela had been blocked and it was impossible for me to cross the barricade. I was frantic because I could not reach my mother neither could I get into my home. I approached a police officer and asked to be allowed to get my belongings from my home. He moved the barricade and let me into the site because I was wearing my school uniform. I broke the window of my home and got inside. I got a few of my mother's and my belongings but I could not get all my books."
The eviction was a deplorable act. It captured the hearts of most South Africans as it played itself out in the media. A glimpse of a particularly inhumane and unfortunate event. It played itself out for two full days, as various organs of state and spheres of government fiddled and were very quick to distance themselves from all of this. They saw nothing. They heard nothing. They knew nothing and were not responsible for anything.
However, in all of this, a more positive side of our character as a people manifested itself as a great number of humanitarian agencies and ordinary South Africans responded with compassion and brought much needed help to the community. Over 400 families were affected by this tragedy.
It was in this context, Madam Speaker that the Minister of Transport alerted me to this misfortune and requested my assistance in my capacity a Minister of Human Settlements. With nobody taking responsibility, I used my prerogative as provided for in Section 3 of the Housing Act, 107 of 1997 read together with section 7.2 of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, as well as Treasury Regulation 20.1 to establish a Ministerial Enquiry to understand how we landed ourselves in such sad circumstances.
All of these impose responsibilities and certain obligation son the Minister to take reasonable steps to ensure that the rights of people are fulfilled. Further, having regard for the provisions of the Prevention of Illegal Evictions from Unlawful Occupation of Land, 1998 (Act 19 of 1998), as amended, that prescribes the process that must be followed for the lawful eviction of unlawful occupiers of land, I established a multi-party team, consisting of former Members of Parliament, familiar with housing laws and regulations and chaired by an Advocate of the High Court.
The Ministerial Enquiry had a very short period of time in which to deliver their report and having asked for several extensions, delivered the final report on 8 October 2014. The Report is an extremely comprehensive piece of work, with submissions from all concerned parties, ranging from private individuals to political parties. It included expert opinions from:
- South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)
- National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL)
- Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR)
- Community Law Centre , University of the Western Cape (CLC-UWC)
- Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI)
- South African Shack Dwellers International (SDI) Alliance
Submissions were also received from Access to Justice, the Methodist Church, the Strand Ridge Resident, who were neighbours to the evicted community, etc. All affected persons and institutions were requested to appear before the Enquiry. Written submissions were received from the City of Cape Town and the Province of the Western Cape, but they refused to give oral evidence.
The Enquiry made several recommendations that we as Parliament might want to look at very closely, including amendments to legislation, specifically the PIE Act, a possible interaction with the Chief Justice on the interpretation of the PIE Act. And importantly, the State should provide fair and just compensation for any losses of personal or other property or goods belonging to the evictees during evictions.
The findings of the Enquiry were as follows:
Indeed the land was unlawfully occupied by the community.
A court order was obtained with the specific directive to prevent the imminent invasion of the land in January 2014.
The said court order of 24 January 2014, did not authorise SANRAL to effect an eviction. SANRAL knowingly abused the court order to effect the evictions.
The court application was for an interim interdict, limited to preventing further land invasion only.
The court order was not an eviction order.
The court order did not authorise the removal of any persons or structures already erected on the land.
Therefore, the evictions on 2 and 3 June 2014 were illegal.
The parties who knowingly conspired and effected the eviction, namely SANRAL, the City of Cape Town, the Sheriff of Strand, the South African Police Service and the Law Enforcement Agencies of the City of Cape Town acted irregularly. They did not have an eviction order, they did not follow the due processes of the law as set out in the PIE Act and therefore their actions were illegal.
Madam Speaker, illegal evictions cannot be tolerated in a society that prides itself in a range of instruments that are meant to protect the rights of the individual. The rights of the landless poor are no less important than the affluent. In fact, illegal evictions threaten the very basis of our human rights ethos and take us back to the era of forced removals. Illegal evictions define us as a primitive people, a people completely insensitive of the suffering and dignity of the poor. The brutality of what we saw on 2 and 3 June 2014, was an illegal, forced removal.
What should concern us here is the fact that such evictions as we saw here in Lwandle, are a microcosm of what is happening in various provinces in our country. In August this year in KwaZulu-Natal, Judge Zondo of the Constitutional Court also found that an interdict obtained by the Ethekwini Municipality was illegally used as an eviction order.
Madam Speaker, we do not condone illegal invasion of land, whatsoever. However, there are laws and processes that prescribe how these should be carried out and are binding on all.
Importantly, in this case, the unashamed brutality that played itself out in Lwandle in June 2014, should not ever be tolerated; what happened here between the City of Cape Town, SANRAL and the South African Police Service was despicable, immoral and criminal.
Our people look to us, as representatives of the State and as agencies of government to protect them, not to vandalise their dignity. My hope is that we will learn from this and never allow it to happen again. And that proper sanction be found to ensure that those who broke the law, carried out acts of immoral vandalism, are held responsible.
Madam Speaker, I hand this report to you in the hope that the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements will ensure that all the recommendations be adhered to.
I thank you
Issued by the Ministry of Human Settlements, October 23 2014
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