Cape Town - In a ruling activists have hailed as a landmark, the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application to evict 60 000 people living in the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi.
The court also ordered the City of Cape Town to enter into negotiations with the owners about purchasing the land and, if negotiations failed, to expropriate it. If the City could not, then it must provide reasons.
The residents of the informal settlement were represented by the Socio Economic Rights Institution (Seri). They invaded the land in 2006 and the settlement became know as Marikana. The invaders were homeless people and backyarders in the area who could no longer afford rent and who had been evicted.
“The court concluded that on a view of the totality of the legislative scheme, the city did not simply have a derivative obligation to the occupiers, but a direct one, and also that the city can fund its own housing programme and administer its housing policy from its own resources,” the ruling stated.
The land was private property. The city had initially filed four reports detailing why it could not accommodate the residents elsewhere and why it could not purchase the property itself. In a fifth report, the city said it could accommodate the residents on an existing development, but only in four to five years' time.
“This ruling shows that people cannot just be evicted. It also recognises the rights of people and speaks to the much broader housing problem,” Seri researcher and advocate Edward Molopi said.
“The vast majority of Cape Town’s residents face a daily struggle to secure a home. The city has yet to fully grasp the ongoing social crisis of homelessness or its obligations to respond reasonably to that crisis. The high court’s brave and humane decision requires the City to come to grips with and implement its legal duties. Doing nothing is not an option,” said Thulani Nkosi, the Seri attorney who represented the Marikana residents.
Reclaim The City activists have hailed the ruling as an “historic move”.
“I think it’s fantastic news for the community and it’s really a sign that the court is taking land issues seriously,” supporter Sarita Pillay said.
Pillay said the ruling illustrated the housing crisis the city was facing.
“The fact is, people don’t choose to occupy land. It is their only option and tells us there is a huge problem and an indication of our housing crisis."
Mayoral committee member for transport and urban development Brett Herron said the city was still studying the ruling.
Martin Oosthuizen, the lawyer for five of the landowners, said his clients were open to negotiations with the city.
“Our clients have been asking for two years. They have been requesting to sell their land to the city,” he said.
Oosthuizen has not had an opportunity to talk to his clients with regards to the ruling, he said.