City of Johannesburg v. Blue Moonlight Properties

2012 (2) SA 104 (2012)

From our private database of 46,200+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

City of Johannesburg v. Blue Moonlight Properties

South Africa Constitutional Court
2012 (2) SA 104 (2012)

Facts

Blue Moonlight Properties (Blue Moonlight) (plaintiff) acquired a dilapidated commercial and industrial property (the property) in the City of Johannesburg (the city) (defendant). Over 80 people (the occupiers) (defendants) occupied the property. The occupiers had no adequate alternatives to housing and generally earned poverty-level wages working outside of formal employment. Blue Moonlight sought to redevelop the property and instituted eviction proceedings against the occupiers. The city had a program that provided temporary housing for people the city removed from properties for safety and other reasons, but the city did not make that program available to people evicted from private property. Blue Moonlight initiated formal eviction proceedings in the high court under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, naming the city as a defendant. The occupiers joined the city in the litigation, claiming they would become homeless if evicted. The high court declared the city’s refusal to use its temporary housing program for private evictions discriminatory and unconstitutional. The high court also ordered the eviction of the occupiers within a fixed time, with the city paying Blue Moonlight fair market value rent in the interim. The city appealed. The supreme court of appeal upheld the eviction and the ruling that the city’s temporary housing program was unconstitutional as applied but set aside the compensation judgment in favor of Blue Moonlight. The city appealed to the South Africa Constitutional Court.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Van Der Westhuizen, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 796,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 796,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 796,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,200 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership