Johannesburg - #EvictionsMustFall was the call of a group of about 150 residents concerned about the spate of evictions in the Joburg inner city during an inner-city evictions summit hosted by the City of Joburg on Monday.
The residents called for a moratorium to be placed on all evictions.
After the first few presentations by the city on its plans to improve the housing situation, the crowd became restless, demanding that their grievances be heard.
Loud accusations were made against property owners and developers, accusing them of illegally evicting people. Several walked out in protest.
Member of the mayoral committee responsible for development planning Roslynn Greeff said a revolution by the poor was about to happen if the numerous cases of evictions were not addressed.
The city reviews some 300 eviction applications a month.
“We need to make sure there is affordable housing for all in terms of human rights, the constitution and our legal obligations,” she said.
The city has several policies in place for new housing involving the public sector and the private sector, with some added incentives for the latter to do more.
The Johannesburg Development Agency gave a presentation and said there were severe challenges with an increasing population, failed sectional title schemes, weak city systems, billing, service delivery and infrastructure problems.
It said the biggest problem was a lack of housing for the poorest of the poor earning less than R800 a month.
“The supply of housing has not kept pace with the influx of people. Ninety percent of housing in the inner city is rental housing.
“The private sector is delivering housing for those earning between R1 500 and R2 000, the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (Joshco) is also providing social housing, but there is no supply of informal housing,” said Johannesburg Development Agency consultant Andreas Bertoldi.
There are an estimated 23 000 vulnerable people earning less than R800 a month, living in high-risk situations with inadequate services and in overcrowding.
The city’s target is to construct some 16 000 affordable units in the short to medium term.
The city’s legal department explained that in a 2011 court case, the Constitutional Court found that the city’s housing policy was unconstitutional and it should find alternative accommodation for people evicted from both public and private buildings.
Following that, it started a temporary emergency, managed care model.
This included renovating three buildings in which people should stay for six months, with possible extensions.
But during this time, they would receive skills training and then move out to be reintegrated with the rest of society.
However, tenants challenged their rights in these buildings, and refused to move out. So, the temporary accommodation is now full and new evictees cannot be accommodated.
Soraya Nana said the city receives much criticism about its housing policies, but it does have them in place.
“We are not sitting back, we are abiding by all court orders.
“However, with a lack of temporary emergency accommodation, few resources and no funding from provincial or national government, we have our challenges,” she said.
At the meeting, it was agreed that teams would be sent out to sectional title buildings to explain to owners how they worked, their rights and responsibilities.
Summing up, mayor Parks Tau said he was disappointed that the property owners and developers had left as they were there to contribute to the meeting.
He said there were plans in place which included new buildings having been identified in the inner city and Berea for temporary housing, which would be announced in the near future.
He said there could not be a blanket moratorium on evictions as each case had to be considered on its own merits.
“There are people who can afford to pay and they should not be hiding behind the poor.
“They should be paying rent and making their contributions to assist the poor, who often, because of their financial circumstances, cannot afford to pay,” he said.
The government alone could not solve these housing problems, Tau said.
“The private sector needs to be investing in affordable housing, and yes, make money. We cannot afford to collapse the private sector contribution as this will impact badly on the poor.
“If developers and owners abandon the inner city, it will impact on accommodation for others,” he said.
The Star
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