Cape Town - The City has been ordered by the Western Cape High Court to take steps to curb criminal activity on vacant land next to an apartment block in District Six.
This after the body corporate for The Six complained that the City owned the neighbouring site, but has refused to act in relation to their complaints of activities that constituted societal, health, environmental and safety risks.
The activities, alleged in court papers, included dealing in and consuming drugs; open fires left unattended; public urination and defecation; nudity; and abundant trash, among others.
The site includes seven undeveloped erven forming a large open field as well as a parking lot on the corner of Sydney and Keisergracht Streets, Zonnebloem.
The land has been awarded to successful land claimants in terms of agreements reached on November 26, 2000, between the City and the Land Claims Commission (LCC) of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DRDLR).
However, despite an elapse of over 22 years, transfer of the site has still not taken place, with the City citing finding common ground between national and local government, among the “complexities” to navigate.
In the high court, the body corporate sought a final interdict against the City, directing it to take steps to clear the land of people living on it illegally, as well as to remove illegal structures, and “remediate the nuisance on the site”.
In its answering affidavit, the City said that on May 19, 2021, it obtained final interdictory relief, preventing individuals from attempting to enter the erven.
At the time, the court also held that the City would have to obtain an eviction order in respect of the unlawful occupiers under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998.
However, Judge Judith Cloete on Wednesday noted: “Accordingly the City has not yet instituted any formal proceedings for the eviction of the occupiers of the site.
“According to the City, the redistribution process will allegedly be completed in August 2024. I agree with the applicant’s submission that having regard to the delays experienced to date, this seems highly unlikely.
“One has to wonder, in these circumstances, whether the LCC in fact has any real intention of ensuring that successful claimants, who have been waiting over 20 years, will ever ultimately return to the place from which they were so cruelly evicted by the apartheid government.
This is a matter of grave concern to this court.
“I am persuaded that the applicant has established a clear right to the City’s adherence to the relevant provisions of the Constitution and its own by-laws.
It has also established a clear right under the common law to prevent the continuation of the nuisance occurring on the site.
“It is fair to accept the applicant’s contention that it will not be long before circumstances arise in which serious bodily harm to one of its members or property is caused.
“The respondent is directed to provide the applicant’s attorney of record with a written report of the steps taken by no later than Friday November17 2023,” the court ruled.
The City said it noted the judgment, and that its legal team would study it.
Lawyers for the body corporate did not respond to requests for comment by deadline on Thursday.
The DRDLR referred requests for comment back to the City.
Cape Times