/ 12 December 2007

Joe Slovo residents fight eviction in court

The Cape High Court is to deliver judgement on Thursday morning in an application launched by about 20 000 residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement to stop their eviction and relocation. After hearing argument all day on Wednesday for and against the evictions, Judge President John Hlophe said he needed time to think about everything.

The Cape High Court is to deliver judgement on Thursday morning in an application launched by about 20 000 residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement to stop their eviction and relocation.

After hearing argument all day on Wednesday for and against the evictions, Judge President John Hlophe said it had been a long day and he needed time to think about everything.

Wednesday’s proceedings involved two applications, the first to evict the residents and the second to stop the evictions.

However, the second was heard first and Hlophe said if he ruled on Thursday morning against the evictions, the first application for permission for the evictions would fall away.

But he warned the legal teams to be prepared to start the argument immediately and to continue all day if necessary if he rules against the Joe Slovo residents.

Human Rights lawyer Geoff Budlender, for the Joe Slovo residents, asked the court to review the administrative decision taken to evict the residents, and to declare the decision illegal and the intended relocation unlawful.

He said the residents were entitled to challenge the decision to relocate them, which amounted to their unlawful evictions from the Joe Slovo settlement.

Essentially, developers Thubelisha Homes has taken over control of the Joe Slovo settlement area on the basis of a memorandum of understanding involving the Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town.

Thubelisha Homes wishes to use the area for the construction of low-cost homes.

Budlender said Thubelisha Homes had taken possession of the land on the basis of the memorandum of understanding, but that this memorandum in fact gave Thubelisha Homes no legal rights, which made the intended relocation unlawful. — Sapa