Cape Town - Judgment in the matter between Hangberg residents and the City over the eviction and demolition of a family home in the area is expected today.
On Tuesday, the case was heard in the Western Cape High Court before Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe, who wanted to know why the City did not seek relief from the courts before proceeding to demolish the Ginola Phillips home.
The City argued that the residents had no jurisdiction to bring the case before court.
Community representative and advocate Vernon Seymour said: “The court is perfectly entitled to pursue in certain circumstances to consider what is referred to as a constitutional remedy. The court must look at what appropriate relief can be provided.”
Seymour wants the court to order the City to rebuild the Phillips home on the same property, and at its expense.
The community launched an urgent court bid at the end of June to prevent the City from demolishing more informal dwellings in the area. It follows a stand-off between the City and residents last month, after the City’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit tore down several structures.
Residents protested and barricaded the entrance to Hangberg with burning tyres.
“We are asking the court to make an order for the respondents to rebuild the structure. The City did not pursue a legal court order to demolish the structure and instead opted to act upon itself,” Seymour said.
The land in question was initially earmarked for housing but in November 2019, the City opted to erect an electricity depot on the site.
Residents filed an urgent application in the high court to interdict the City from continuing further developments on the site.
Residents claim the City has violated a standing order granted by the high court, called the Hangberg Peace Accord, which outlines the process in dealing with “illegal” structures.
In terms of the accord, the City had agreed to build houses on the site. The City has offered Phillips land, but there seem to be factors preventing it from delivering the site successfully.
The City’s legal representative, Renate Williams, said the structure that Phillips was staying in cannot constitute as his place of residence.
“In his own version he was not living in the structure; he said he was staying in the structure occasionally and other times he didn’t. So he (Phillips) must have known the sand dune his structure was built on.
Judge Salie-Hlophe asked whether it was a requirement that, if it was Phillips’ home, he had to stay at the premises all the time.
“The fact that you’ve made it your home should be known as your home,” she said.
Williams said: “When the City first became involved in this matter on June 3 it was in the process of being reconstructed. In the applicant’s own version, he was not living there. He slept there on occasions and on other occasions he didn’t. The City cannot get an urgent eviction order at this juncture.”
Judge Salie-Hlophe said the Covid-19 pandemic has applied more pressure to vulnerable communities.
“We are dealing with a pandemic of enormous consequences and the people who feel it the most are our indigent, for those who are middle class they can self-isolate,” she said.
@MarvinCharles17