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eviction attorney Johannesburg Archives | Page 2 of 27 | Eviction Lawyers South Africa

Nov 18
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Eviction looms for victims of traditional leader’s land scam

By | Eviction news, Evictions

Reprinted from GroundUp, by Warren Mabona – 2024-11-14

  • Families who were illegally sold plots on municipal land in Mpumalanga by a traditional leader will soon be forced to vacate the properties.
  • The Middelburg High Court has ruled in favour of the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality, dismissing the traditional leader’s attempt to appeal an eviction order.
  • Judas Mahlangu, leader of the Ndzundza-Mabhoko Traditional Authority, has been selling off stands on municipal-owned land for at least R2,500 each since 2018.

The Middelburg High Court has ruled in favour of the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality in Mpumalanga, ordering a group of people and the traditional leader who illegally sold them plots on municipal land to vacate properties.

The group have been ordered to leave the land by 31 October.

But many of the people still living in Magadangana Village say they have nowhere else to go. They say they spent what little money they had, or even took out loans, to build their homes there.

Judas Mahlangu, leader of the Ndzundza-Mabhoko Traditional Authority, has been selling off stands on the municipal land since 2018 for at least R2,500 each.

The battle between the municipality and Mahlangu has been ongoing for six years.

The area, officially known as the Farm Vlaklaagte, has no running water, electricity or road infrastructure. The people who bought stands from Mahlangu will be forced to leave as soon as the eviction order has been handed over to the sheriff of the court to execute, the municipality confirmed. This is after three failed legal attempts by Mahlangu to claim that he had a right to sell off the municipal land.

The Thembisile Hani municipality first found out in June 2019 that stands were being sold on its land. The land has been earmarked for the development of government housing.

The municipality went to court, and in February 2022 the Middleburg High Court interdicted Mahlangu and another man, Johannes Jiyane, from allocating stands. By then 175 sites had been “allocated”. According to some residents, Jiyane works with Mahlangu at the Ndzundza-Mabhoko Tribal Authority.

The municipality returned to court in January 2024, and Judge Mpopelele Bruce Langa ordered Mahlangu, Jiyane and those living on the land to leave by the end of April.

Mahlangu then filed an application to appeal against this ruling. On 23 August Judge Langa dismissed the appeal with costs. The judge said that leave to appeal should only be granted if the court is of the opinion that the appeal would have reasonable prospects of success or is arguable.

In rejecting the appeal, Judge Langa said that, among other things, Mahlangu had failed to prove his authority to bring the appeal on behalf of all of the people occupying the municipal land. “The fact that he may be the traditional leader in the area, did not give him the authority to act on behalf of the ‘community’ and institute legal proceedings without the resolution or consent by the community for him to do so,” he said.

Langa added that the court had made a factual finding that the municipality was the rightful owner and that there was not sufficient evidence that families had been on the land for more than six months before the initial litigation.

Nowhere to go

There are currently about 200 informal structures and brick homes on the land and a few larger brick and mortar houses are still being built.

Many of the residents GroundUp spoke to last week say they now live in fear daily of their imminent eviction.

Jabulani Ngema told GroundUp that he worries that he will be homeless for Christmas. He said he bought a stand from Mahlangu for R2,500 in 2021 and spent R5,000 on building material and furniture to construct his two-room shack.

“I am worried because I don’t know if the municipality will move us to another land.. I fear that the municipality will demolish my home and damage my building material when evicting us,” said Ngema. “Christmas is coming. I don’t want to be homeless.”

Ngema’s shack is on the outskirts of the site near a dam. He said moving out of the area would be a huge setback for him because he wants to start a vegetable garden and sell the produce to make a living.

Another resident owns a seven-roomed house on the site. He said he had spent more than R120,000 on his house so far. “I live with my wife and three children in this home and they love our house. If the municipality evicts and relocates us to another land, it will still be a big loss for me because I will have to spend more money building another house there.”

GroundUp sent questions to the spokesperson for Thembisile Hani Municipality, Simphiwe Mokako on 7 November 2024. Mokako said the court order had ordered the municipality to find alternative land, and “We have indicated that the municipality will abide by the court order.”

“The matter of the evictions is in the hands of the Sheriff.”

Mahlangu said he would not answer our questions before hanging up on us.

GroundUp also sent questions by email on 11 November to the Ndzundza-Mabhoko Traditional Authority but there was no response by the time of publication.

For further information

Simon Dippenaar & Associates, Inc. is a law firm of specialist eviction lawyers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. We help landlords and tenants maintain healthy working relationships. Contact one of our eviction attorneys on 086 099 5146 or simon@sdlaw.co.za if you need help with tenants’ rights or landlords’ responsibilities.

Further reading:

Oct 31
0

Castle of Good Hope eviction ‘is happening soon’, says Cape Town mayor

By | Eviction news, Evictions

Reprinted from News24, by Marvin Charles – 2024-10-30

  • Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced the imminent eviction of homeless people living outside the Castle of Good Hope during a council meeting on Wednesday.
  • The eviction date was initially set for 17 October, but more than ten days have passed since then.
  • The Department of Public Works obtained an eviction order in the Western Cape High Court in September.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the eviction of a group of homeless people living outside the Castle of Good Hope in the CBD is imminent.

More than 10 days have passed since the eviction date, which was set for 17 October.

Responding to questions during a full council sitting on Wednesday, Hill-Lewis said: “Once Public Works obtained the eviction order, with the City supporting the eviction, it is carried out by the sheriff of the court.

“The date has been set for the eviction. Obviously it is confidential, but it is happening soon.”

Hill-Lewis said the eviction of the group of homeless people who have been staying outside the Castle of Good Hope would be an “important” milestone.

“That has been the site of really terrible dereliction and urban decay for the last four or five years, and it’s been a very difficult problem to solve,” he added.

“It is a source of great regret for me that it has taken this long.”

The mayor’s announcement comes after a fire broke out at the Castle on Wednesday morning, but the blaze was quickly extinguished.

According to spokesperson for the City’s Fire and Rescue Service, Jermaine Carelse, the City’s firefighters responded to a call on Wednesday morning of structures alight in the vicinity of the Castle of Good Hope.

Three structures were destroyed, and five people were displaced.

No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire has not yet been established.

In September, the Western Cape High Court ordered that the group vacate the property by 17 October, following an eviction application from the national Department of Public Works.

According to the order, the City of Cape Town must provide alternative accommodation for the homeless people in safe spaces.

Hill-Lewis said there had been zero cooperation from two former public works ministers on the issue.

“Most residents usually accept the offer of alternative accommodation at the last minute when they are being evicted. It’s a sad thing because it could save us months in court if they accept the offer,” he said.

According to the City, the 358-year-old castle, which is a national heritage site, has seen a significant decline in visitors in recent times.

Living in makeshift tents, the homeless people have been using the moat that surrounds the castle for ablution purposes and dumping their waste.

For further information

Simon Dippenaar & Associates, Inc. is a law firm of specialist eviction lawyers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. We help landlords and tenants maintain healthy working relationships. Contact one of our eviction attorneys on 086 099 5146 or simon@sdlaw.co.za if you need help with tenants’ rights or landlords’ responsibilities.

Further reading:

Oct 14
0

Prescribed charges

By | Electricity, Tenants

How long are you liable for municipal charges?

If you own a property, you are responsible for payment of certain charges to your municipality. If you are a tenant, you may pay your own utility costs or you may have an “all-in” rent, in which the landlord accommodates the cost of electricity, water and sewerage, etc., within the rental amount, and they pay the municipality directly. The property owner must always pay the property rates. What happens if you fail to pay the municipal charges you are liable for, either as owner or occupier? Is there a statute of limitations on debt to the municipality? The answer is complicated. In this context, the law refers to “prescribed charges”.

What does “prescribed” mean? 

A charge is prescribed when the law considers the debt too old for the creditor to enforce collection. A creditor can still demand payment of prescribed charges and include them on an invoice, but the defence of prescription may be used by the debtor to avoid payment. 

The National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (read with the National Credit Amendments Act 19 of 2014) makes it unlawful for a municipality to invoice a consumer for prescribed charges, or to collect them.

When do municipal charges prescribe?

The prescription of municipal charges is covered by the Prescription Act, Act 68 of 1969, read with current case law. In South Africa, refuse, rates and sewerage charges prescribe after a period of 30 years. However, water and electricity charges prescribe after a period of just three years. Water and electricity can easily be disconnected by the municipality for non-payment, unlike refuse collection or sewerage, which may explain the shorter prescription period.

Principles of prescription of municipal charges 

There is a mild anomaly in the way the prescription period is set for municipal charges. Debts generally fall due when the customer (the debtor) receives the invoice. The prescription period theoretically starts running when the debt falls due. However, we have all experienced times when our municipal bills arrive later than usual. In this case, prescription starts running when the knowledge of the claim should reasonably have come to the creditor’s attention. In plain English, if the municipality fails to invoice consumers for an extended period, then prescription starts when it reasonably ought to have done so, and not when the invoices were eventually despatched. 

Prescription is “interrupted” and the prescription period restarts if a consumer has admitted liability for the charge unambiguously and unequivocally. This can be problematic if a consumer signs an acknowledgement of debt for charges under dispute, to procure a payment plan or arrange for reconnection of services which were terminated due to non-payment. 

Payment of a prescribed charge and interruption of prescription

Once an amount has been paid, it cannot prescribe. Even if you made the payment in ignorance of this condition and in error, you cannot claim a reversal of the prescribed amount, or a refund of the amount paid. If a municipality has summonsed a consumer for an unpaid amount, this amount does not prescribe. 

Part payment of a debt, or acknowledgement of part of a debt, can interrupt the prescription period for the whole debt. This is sometimes an issue when a municipality sends out invoices based on estimated readings for an extended period of time. If a consumer either pays or admits liability for the charges raised on estimated readings, and the municipality then reconciles the consumer’s account with the actual readings and raises further charges, the new charges cannot prescribe.

Do you need further information? 

Prescription should not arise if you pay your bills on time. If you think you have been invoiced inaccurately or unfairly, relying on the prescription period is not the most appropriate way to avoid paying a charge you believe is unfair. If the charge is for water or electricity, you are likely to be disconnected. If the charge is for rates, refuse or sewerage, 30 years is a long time to be in dispute with the council! 

If you have any questions about your bill, speak to your municipality in the first instance. If you are in financial difficulty and are unable to pay your bill, it will usually agree to arrange a payment plan, but it’s important to make contact as early as possible and not as a last resort.

If you have done this and are still in dispute, SD Law can help. We are a firm of specialist eviction lawyers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. We help landlords and tenants maintain healthy working relationships and we can also resolve matters with municipalities. Contact one of our attorneys on 086 099 5146 or simon@sdlaw.co.za if you need help with any property issues.

Further reading: