The city had appealed a high court ruling in March last year that Johannesburg could not evict residents of derelict buildings unless government provided alternative accommodation. At the time, the city was believed to have about 60 orders for evictions waiting for execution.
Yesterday the appeal court ruled that residents of a Berea building, San Jose, and a nearby Joel Street property had a month to vacate the buildings, or the sheriff could remove them.
The judgment was met with concern by the Wits Centre for Applied Legal Studies and law firm Webber Wentzel, who represented residents. They say that while it does require the city to provide temporary housing until better housing can be found, it does not require the city to investigate the economic means of people before evicting them, which could see destitute people put on to the streets.
The judgment also says the city is not obligated to provide accommodation in the inner city, but can decide where it is appropriate to house people.
This would be problematic for many residents who made their living in the city and were too poor to pay for transport, said Jean du Plessis, acting executive director of the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions.
Stuart Wilson from the Centre for Applied Legal Studies said they would consider whether to take the case to the Constitutional Court.
The city said the judgment vindicated its position that “it was within its rights to issue notices to occupants to vacate buildings in the inner city”.
