The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an application for leave to appeal an eviction order by people occupying Transnet land at Salt River and Woodstock in Cape Town. The court had previously granted an eviction order in July, requiring the occupiers to vacate the land by September 30. Judge Derek Wille delivered the judgment last week, stating that the applicants failed to identify any legal misdirection.
According to Judge Wille, the applicants did not provide detailed information about their individual personal circumstances, despite being given the opportunity to do so. Instead, they submitted "vanilla standard-form affidavits" and elected a spokesman who deposed to an affidavit in general terms, which was not confirmed under oath. Wille stated that this contained hearsay evidence about the alleged personal circumstances of several occupiers.
The applicants had argued that the leave to appeal should be granted due to public interest in obtaining legal certainty regarding the extent of the obligations resting on organs of state where persons may potentially be rendered homeless because of an eviction. However, Judge Wille disagreed, stating that there is no uncertainty in the law. He also noted that he did not make any finding that the City of Cape Town or any organ of state bears no constitutional obligations in eviction proceedings.
Judge Wille found that the occupiers had failed to establish an entitlement to emergency accommodation and that an eviction without the provision of such accommodation was nevertheless just and equitable in the circumstances of this specific case. The City of Cape Town had presented detailed, uncontroverted evidence showing that the property served as a base for criminal enterprise, with tunnels under the property used to store drugs and stolen goods.
The court had heard that the occupiers raised only bald, general denials and failed to engage substantively with the inspection in loco findings. Judge Wille stated that he was dealing with proceedings on motion and was entitled to draw the most plausible inference from the established facts. The applicants failed to establish either a realistic prospect of success or a compelling reason for leave to appeal to be granted.
The judge also noted that there was no direct evidence of homelessness, with not a single affidavit explicitly stating that eviction would render that occupant homeless. Wille emphasized that while the availability of alternative accommodation is an important factor in the just and equitable enquiry, it is not an immutable prerequisite for the granting of an eviction order.
The application for leave to appeal was refused, with no order as to costs. The initial court order granted the Sheriff of the High Court, with the assistance of the police, to evict the occupiers together with their possessions and any structures unlawfully erected on the vacant land, and restore the occupation to Transnet. Transnet did not respond to a request to comment, while the City referred questions to the state-owned enterprise.
Key points
- The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an appeal by occupiers of Transnet land in Cape Town's Salt River and Woodstock areas.
- The court had previously granted an eviction order in July, requiring the occupiers to vacate the land by September 30.
- The applicants failed to establish either a realistic prospect of success or a compelling reason for leave to appeal to be granted.
