South African appeals court overturns ruling against Drakenstein municipality — TimesLIVE
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling by the Western Cape High Court that found the Drakenstein Municipality to have breached its constitutional and statutory obligations to provide emergency housing. The court upheld the municipality’s appeal, setting aside the declaratory orders and court-supervision requirements imposed by the lower court, TimesLIVE reports.
Dispute over eviction
The appeal was heard against the backdrop of eviction proceedings involving Eric Lolo and his daughter Bernice Fransman from the Langkloof Roses farm in Drakenstein. Green Willows Properties 2 filed an eviction application in 2015 after Lolo’s right to live in the house was terminated following his dismissal from work in 2013.
The eviction proceedings, brought under legislation concerning security of tenure on land, are still pending before the magistrate’s court. Lolo registered on the housing waiting list in 2006. The municipality was joined to the case as the authority responsible for providing emergency housing to people being evicted from their homes.
The municipality acknowledged this obligation but said that at the time it could not provide Lolo and Fransman with emergency accommodation and could not determine precisely when it would become available. At the same time, the authorities said they could arrange for such housing to be provided.
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Appeals court findings
The appeals court concluded that the lower court had incorrectly shifted the burden of proof onto the state. In the court’s view, the municipality had been required to prove the reasonableness of its actions before the applicants had set out clear factual grounds for their claims.
Appeals court Judge Nambitha Dambuza said that municipalities must set housing-delivery targets and land-use planning obligations within integrated development plans. At the same time, she said, they cannot avoid responsibility for emergency housing by referring to the powers of provincial or national authorities.
According to the municipality, about 19,500 people were seeking housing in Drakenstein at the time, substantially exceeding available capacity. The municipality also said it created between 400 and 800 formal housing opportunities annually with funding from the Western Cape provincial authorities. The appeal records mention the Vlakkeland project, comprising 2,500 housing units, 500 of which were planned for emergency accommodation. The court did not order Lolo and Fransman to pay legal costs in either instance.
