LHR scores eviction bid court victory

Hot on the heels of their recent Constitutional Court triumph, Lawyers for Human Rights scored another victory in the Pretoria High Court last week in a case in which a group of families was seeking to establish permanent residency on a piece of land in Bronkhorstspruit.

About 100 families, mostly farmworkers, have been sent from pillar to post in the past, as they have on numerous occasions been evicted from the land where they settled.

Many of these people were born on the land from which they were set to be evicted. They once again faced eviction when a group, who called themselves the Roodepoort Property Association, turned to court to have them removed.

LHR, acting on behalf of the residents, asked in a counter-application that the Tshwane Metro Council formalise the township (where the families are at present living) in an effort to find permanent housing for the displaced community.

The council agreed to conduct a land development study – which will include a geo-technical report and possible rezoning of the property – to establish the feasibility of any development on the piece of land and the development best suited to it. Dependent on the results of the land development study, the council agreed to apply for the establishment of a formal township on the property to accommodate the families who qualified for housing assistance.

The group faced eviction after residents in the area earlier turned to court to force their eviction.

“It is a very good development and a sign that [the Tshwane municipality] is attempting to address some of the housing problems of the past and work towards integrated settlements,” said Nathaniah Jacobs, of LHR.