Pretoria - An elderly couple who have steadfastly refused to budge from the plot where they have been living illegally for years - with their 12 dogs, five cats and two horses - have now been forced by the Supreme Court of Appeal to vacate the property by no later than the end of February next year.
Social services told the SCA that Cedric Jones, 78, and his wife Dianne Jones, 74, should move to an old age home where they could be cared for.
They, together with their 48-year-old mentally disabled daughter, have been living on the plot in Meyerton since 2013 and have been embroiled in legal proceedings with their landlord for years, as he desperately tried to get them out of the farmhouse.
It was revealed that the couple, with the help of state grants they receive, have the means to move into an old age home. Several of the homes which were approached by social services agreed to accommodate them.
Five SCA justices were told that the couple was simply stubborn and wanted to prove their point by refusing to go. This is in spite of the farmhouse no longer having electricity, the water pipers broken and most of the windows shattered.
Social services which went to investigate the couple’s circumstances,
said it must be bitterly cold in the winter with the wind whistling through the windows.
It was said that it wasn’t safe for the couple to continue living there, nor was it conducive to their health.
Shawn Sutherland and his wife Julia, who initially owned the plot, in desperation turned to the local magistrate’s court in 2017 to have the Joneses evicted. This was after they had been living on the plot rent free since November 2013.
The Sutherlands obtained an eviction order which meant the Joneses had to move within three months. But the elderly couple turned to the SCA to appeal the eviction order.
Jones told the court he stopped paying rent in 2013 when Sutherland told him he wanted to sell the plot as he was “washing his hands of the whole place”.
Jones saw this as a way not to pay rent. He and his wife were again given notice the following year, that they had to be out as the new owner was taking over. The Joneses stayed put.
It is claimed that Sutherland and his son then started a vendetta against the elderly couple, by disconnecting their electricity supply, removing or damaging their water pumps, and destroying their solar panels, breaking the windows to the house and damaging the couple’s tractor.
Jones estimated the damage around R600 000. He laid a charge of malicious damage to property against Sutherland, who was convicted and sentenced to a fine of R10 000 or 12 months imprisonment, which was suspended.
Sutherland, in 2015, again tried to get the couple out of the house by sending them a lawyer’s letter. This was yet again ignored by the Joneses.
Two years later, a social worker was sent to the plot to determine what was taking place there and under what circumstances the couple lived.
She noted it was not in their best interest to stay there. But, she said, while they refused to budge as they “need to prove a point”, they were harming their own welfare and that of their daughter.
The social worker concluded that their constitutional rights would not be compromised if they moved to an old age home. The state even went as far as investigating which homes would be suitable.
On their own admittance, the couple have not paid rent since November 2013. The Sutherlands, who were also an elderly couple, had been deprived from their main income - rent from the plot. The Joneses are more than R400 000 in arrears in rent.
The court found this was not fair towards the Sutherlands and it was time for the Joneses to leave as they were living in deplorable conditions.
Judge Caroline Heaton Nicholls said while the couple wanted to continue living there, it was no longer up to them to decide.