A 2011 Concourt ruling made it clear that if the City of Joburg cannot provide temporary emergency accommodation for illegal occupants of a building, they cannot be evicted.
A screengrab of the hijacked Vannin Court building in Johannesburg. Picture: Orrin Singh/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG – Thousands of illegal occupants of buildings within Joburg’s inner city cannot be evicted due to a Constitutional court ruling.
The issue of Joburg’s hijacked buildings comes in the wake of last week’s Marshalltown fire tragedy where 77 people lost their lives.
Non-government organisations represent thousands of illegal occupants who have hijacked state and privately-owned buildings within Joburg.
Property attorney Greg Vermaak said the living conditions in some of these buildings are inhumane.
“I genuinely believe that there are buildings more dangerous to live in than living on the street, but it’s not appropriate, people should never live on the street in a country like this, but the people of 80 Albert street would have been better off sleeping on the pavement than in that building,” said Vermaak.
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