The Constitutional Court order allowing the eviction of 20,000 Joe Slovo shack dwellers under strict conditions was hailed on Wednesday by the Department of Human Settlements as "ground-breaking" .
Five justices of the Constitutional Court handed down the judgment, which allows the eviction of the Langa informal settlement residents, but insists that they be given proper, alternative accommodation.
The court ruled that 70 percent of the current and former residents should be accommodated at any future new low-cost housing development at the N2 Gateway.
Thubelisha and the Human Settlements Ministry had earlier indicated that more than 1 500 of the "Building New Ground" houses would be made available for residents.
The national government, Thubelisha Homes and the MEC for Housing have also been ordered by the court to cover 50 percent of the costs.
Families still living in Joe Slovo would be moved to temporary residential units in Delft according to a "timeplan" that had earlier been set out by Thubelisha Homes.
The court also ordered that the applicants and respondents reach agreement on the start of relocations to Delft. Both parties have been given until June 30 to agree on the start of the relocation process.
"This ground-breaking judgment allows the government to plan better and to fast-track the building of integrated human settlements across the country and to work in an organised manner towards the achievement of a South Africa free of slums and informal settlements," said director-general of the department Itumeleng Kotsoane.
He said the housing development agency and government officials would work closely with evicted communities to ensure their new temporary homes had all the basic amenities. "As government we must ensure that clinics and creches are there, children must go to school, and disruptions to people's lives are minimised," Kotsoane said.
The general manager of the government's N2 Gateway housing project, Prince Xhanti Sigcawu, said the judgment was good news for both parties.
"A better life beckons for the people of Joe Slovo informal settlement. The highest court in the land has pronounced its judgment, and the biggest winners are the families who will soon put the misery of shack dwelling behind them...
"We are mindful of the fact that temporary relocations pose temporary inconveniences for the people, and will continue the measures already in place to minimise disruption and uncertainty."
The case relates to an eviction order granted by the Cape High Court in March to allow the national government to build formal houses under its N2 Gateway project.
But the residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement
appealed to the Constitutional Court, saying they were legally living on that land.
The residents also argued that 70 percent of them should be legally entitled to qualify for the new houses to be built by the government.
"The appeal succeeds in part and is dismissed in part," read the judgment handed down in the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court justices found that the residents were living illegally on the land.
They also said the new temporary housing had to comply with certain standards. These included that a residential unit should be at least 24m2 in size, be serviced with tarred roads, be individually numbered, have walls constructed with a substance called Nutec, have a galvanised iron roof, have electricity, and access to fresh water and flush toilets.
As the Joe Slovo residents awaited the news from Constitution Hill on Wednesday, they gathered on a patch of grass at the entrance to the informal settlement.
Sifiso Mapasa, chairman of the Joe Slovo Task Team, said on the eve of the ruling he could not sleep.
After receiving snippets of the judgment from the community's lawyer in Johannesburg, Mapasa said: "We respect the decision, our issue has always been that government had not properly consulted people in the process of establishing the N2 Gateway."
- Cape Times
Five justices of the Constitutional Court handed down the judgment, which allows the eviction of the Langa informal settlement residents, but insists that they be given proper, alternative accommodation.
The court ruled that 70 percent of the current and former residents should be accommodated at any future new low-cost housing development at the N2 Gateway.
Thubelisha and the Human Settlements Ministry had earlier indicated that more than 1 500 of the "Building New Ground" houses would be made available for residents.
The national government, Thubelisha Homes and the MEC for Housing have also been ordered by the court to cover 50 percent of the costs.
Families still living in Joe Slovo would be moved to temporary residential units in Delft according to a "timeplan" that had earlier been set out by Thubelisha Homes.
The court also ordered that the applicants and respondents reach agreement on the start of relocations to Delft. Both parties have been given until June 30 to agree on the start of the relocation process.
"This ground-breaking judgment allows the government to plan better and to fast-track the building of integrated human settlements across the country and to work in an organised manner towards the achievement of a South Africa free of slums and informal settlements," said director-general of the department Itumeleng Kotsoane.
He said the housing development agency and government officials would work closely with evicted communities to ensure their new temporary homes had all the basic amenities. "As government we must ensure that clinics and creches are there, children must go to school, and disruptions to people's lives are minimised," Kotsoane said.
The general manager of the government's N2 Gateway housing project, Prince Xhanti Sigcawu, said the judgment was good news for both parties.
"A better life beckons for the people of Joe Slovo informal settlement. The highest court in the land has pronounced its judgment, and the biggest winners are the families who will soon put the misery of shack dwelling behind them...
"We are mindful of the fact that temporary relocations pose temporary inconveniences for the people, and will continue the measures already in place to minimise disruption and uncertainty."
The case relates to an eviction order granted by the Cape High Court in March to allow the national government to build formal houses under its N2 Gateway project.
But the residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement
appealed to the Constitutional Court, saying they were legally living on that land.
The residents also argued that 70 percent of them should be legally entitled to qualify for the new houses to be built by the government.
"The appeal succeeds in part and is dismissed in part," read the judgment handed down in the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court justices found that the residents were living illegally on the land.
They also said the new temporary housing had to comply with certain standards. These included that a residential unit should be at least 24m2 in size, be serviced with tarred roads, be individually numbered, have walls constructed with a substance called Nutec, have a galvanised iron roof, have electricity, and access to fresh water and flush toilets.
As the Joe Slovo residents awaited the news from Constitution Hill on Wednesday, they gathered on a patch of grass at the entrance to the informal settlement.
Sifiso Mapasa, chairman of the Joe Slovo Task Team, said on the eve of the ruling he could not sleep.
After receiving snippets of the judgment from the community's lawyer in Johannesburg, Mapasa said: "We respect the decision, our issue has always been that government had not properly consulted people in the process of establishing the N2 Gateway."
- Cape Times
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