City of Johannesburg v. Blue Moonlight Properties
South Africa Constitutional Court
2012 (2) SA 104 (2012)
- Written by Curtis Parvin, JD
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.)
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