A Pretoria High Court judge on Friday criticised the Tshwane metro council for ignoring court orders and legal procedures, leaving 36 families, counting amongst ”the poorest of the poor”, out in the veld in the middle of winter.
Judge Eberhardt Bertelsmann found the council in contempt of a June 24 court order in terms of which it had to re-erect 36 shacks it had demolished at Brazzaville informal settlement in Atteridgeville, east of Pretoria, or provide the occupants with alternative housing.
Although three shacks had been re-erected earlier this week, the court recorded an undertaking that the council would re-erect the remaining 33 shacks it had demolished on June 23 before Friday next week in cooperation with representatives of the squatters.
”Evicting people without a court order in the middle of winter without even keeping a record of who is being evicted and what happens to them, belongs to a period in the history of this country which one would have hoped would forever have passed.
”One trusts this will be the last time,” Bertelsmann said.
The judge refused an order sought by the informal settlers to have Tshwane executive mayor, Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, jailed for 30 days for contempt of court.
He said it was possible that officials responsible for the day-to-day administration of the council may have viewed the court order as one that did not apply to the persons eventually evicted, because they did not appear on the council’s official list.
”The council has now agreed to re-erect the remaining shacks. It also suffered the humiliation of having a high profile matter argued in court in which its officials and executive is not seen in a good light.
”However, neither the council’s executive nor its officials ought to misinterpret this leniency of the court. I trust the fact that the application was successful is enough of a serious warning to the local authority and its officials to ensure this is the last time.
”The court must protect its own process. It must insist that officials respect and support the process in the execution thereof,” he said.
Bertelsmann granted a punitive costs order against the council ”to underline the court’s displeasure” about the conduct of the council’s officials.
”It is unfortunate that the ratepayer will eventually be lumbered with the costs because of the ineptitude and negligence of the council’s officials.
”It may be that in future if something like this happens again, the officials responsible are personally held liable for the costs,” he added. – Sapa