Mayor warned to house poor or face being held in contempt of court
City cannot ‘throw up hands in horror’ when asked to house the homeless, Judge says
Press release
3 May 2013
Today, the Johannesburg High Court directed the Executive Mayor, City Manager and Director of Housing for the City of Johannesburg ("the City") to personally explain why the City has not acted to provide shelter to the homeless, over 18 months after a Constitutional Court decision requiring it to do so. They must also take all the steps necessary to provide shelter to the 201 occupiers of Chung Hua Mansions at 191 Jeppe Street within two months of today's date. If they do not, they could be held in contempt, and be handed a fine or face jail time.
Judge Kathy Satchwell was handing down judgment in a case brought by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) on behalf of 201 men, women and children living in an unsafe building in inner city Johannesburg. In June 2012, the City agreed to a High Court order directing it to give the residents temporary shelter by 30 January 2013. The City agreed to this order because the Constitutional Court had previously declared, in City of Johannesburg v Blue Moonlight Properties 2012 (1) SA 334 (CC) ("the Blue Moonlight judgment") that the City was constitutionally obliged to provide accommodation to those facing homelessness on their eviction from private land.
The City missed the 30 January deadline to provide accommodation to the residents, and then missed a further deadline, set in another High Court order, directing it to say where and when it would provide the accommodation needed. The City said that it would not provide accommodation to the residents for the foreseeable future, even though it has originally agreed to be ordered to do so. The residents then brought an application for an order directing Mayor Parks Tau, City Manager Trevor Fowler and Director of Housing Thabo Mayisela to take all the steps necessary to provide the shelter required, or face being held in contempt of court.
In granting the residents' application, Judge Satchwell said that the City could not simply "throw its hands up in horror" every time it had to house people about to be evicted. She also ordered the City to report on what it has done to respond to the Blue Moonlight judgment more generally. The report, which must be provided by 18 May 2013, must set out what budget the City has allocated to provide shelter to the residents and other poor people facing eviction, and whether it had set up a specific department to deal with people facing homelessness.
Teboho Mosikili, SERI's director of litigation, said "The City's disobedience of the Blue Moonlight judgment and other court orders requiring it to house the homeless is a threat to the rule of law. It must come to an end. The Mayor, the City Manager and the Director of Housing must now do what they should have done well over a year ago: plan and budget for the City's obligations to the poor."
Kate Tissington, a senior researcher at SERI, said: "To be the truly ‘World Class African City’ it claims to be, the City must respond to the needs of rich and poor alike. It has the power and the money to do so. All it lacks is the will. Our clients have no interest in seeing any officials held in contempt, so we hope that Judge Satchwell's decision will spur it on to comply with its obligations."
Advocates Paul Kennedy SC and Stuart Wilson, SERI's executive director, appeared for the residents in court.
CONTACT
Teboho Mosikili, SERI director of litigation: [email][email protected] / 072 248 2199 / 011 356 5865
Kate Tissington, SERI senior researcher: [email][email protected] / 072 220 9125 / 011 356 5862