(English) May 2nd, 2013
More than 100 residents of a block of flats who were embroiled in a bitter legal battle with the city of Johannesburg have moved into alternative accommodation.
Yesterday the last residents of 7 Saratoga Avenue in Berea were moved to BVM, a property owned by the Johannesburg Social Housing Company, and the Ekuthuleni shelter.
The residents took the municipality to court after being ordered to evict the privately owned property.
They wanted the council to provide them with accommodation. The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals) and Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (Seri) took the case for them.
In February 2010, the South Gauteng High Court granted the eviction order and ordered the occupiers to vacate the property.
The court also directed the city either to provide the occupiers with temporary accommodation or to pay each of the occupiers» households R850 per month towards the cost of finding their own alternative accommodation.
The matter was taken to the Constitutional Court last year. Trueman Twala, who lived in the block of flats for 13 years said he was happy that things worked out well.
«I am happy that even those who cannot afford to rent were given a place because we lived together for a long time,» he said.
Twala said that things started going wrong at 7 Saratoga Avenue when residents were given different bank account details to pay rent.
He said that after the residents asked about the difference they were told one person would be sent to collect the rent and they continued to pay.
«More people started coming and claiming to be the owners and we decided to stop paying rent and told them to sort it out among themselves,» he said.
They said the new company did not want to engage with the residents which was why the matter had ended up in court. Twala said the police had harassed the residents constantly and traumatised their children in the process.
Lungile Mtshali, acting director: management support for the Johannesburg’s housing department, said that the 130 residents moved smoothly and that the residents would benefit from other municipal services.
Mtshali said that 54 residents who could not afford rent were taken to Ekuthuleni shelter and those who could afford R600 rent were taken to BVM, a property owned by the Johannesburg Social Housing Company.
«Those taken to the shelter will be assessed monthly by the social workers. They will also undergo training in the city’s job creation projects,» she said.
«It is a comprehensive plan to help them. Some will like to get out of the shelter because it has rules,» she said. Mtshali said living standards at the shelter and the BVM property were much better than Berea.
Kathleen Hardy, attorney at Cals, said there had been some snags: «Some of the issues are with regard to some of my clients being accommodated in a shelter and being treated like the general shelter population which are vagrants,» she said.
Hardy said her clients had been living as families for years and should not be treated as vagrants. Some of her clients were nursing mothers and were compelled leave the shelter during the day.
«We are going to speak to the shelter manager. They cannot expect mothers with children to sit in the park the whole day,» she said.
Hardy said the relocation should be seen as a victory and a step in a right direction. She was happy that her clients» rights had not been violated and that hey had not been rendered homeless.
Source: The New Age
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