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The Herald 20 Feb 2006

Minister demands probe of Uitenhage house seizures

By Francois Rank Chief Reporter

HOUSING Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has commissioned a special investigation
into the possibly illegal and unconstitutional seizure and sale of
State-subsidised houses in Uitenhage revealed by The Herald last week.

Sisulu launched the probe in reaction to a report in The Herald on Friday
that residents in the destitute area of Tiryville have been fighting an
ongoing battle with Uitenhage law firm Lessing Heyns and Co after their
houses were seized to settle trifling debt.

Department spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya said: “In response to the article
titled ‘Residents fight to salvage homes from debt collectors’ published in
The Herald on February 17, 2006, Housing Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu (has)
referred the matter for full investigation by the department’s Special
Investigations Unit for violation of the constitutional right to adequate
housing.”

Residents in Tiryville said they had lost their homes for debt amounting to
a few hundred rands – in one case as little as R165.

They claim to have paid the money back to their creditors many times over.

The law firm is hired by businesses in Uitenhage who are owed money, to
collect their debt. When the residents are unable to pay, the firm has a
court put them under administration. Following a lengthy legal process, the
houses are then attached and auctioned off to recover the debt.

The unit will investigate allegations that Lessing Heyns and their clients
by doing this contravened the Constitution and a 2001 amendment to the 1997
Housing Act.

“The Housing Act of 2001 (as amended) prohibits the sale of a
government-subsidised house to any individual unless it has been in a person
’s possession for more than eight years. Should the owner want to sell the
house, the government would prefer that this is bought back. Any sale and
eviction conducted against this provision can be classified as illegal,”
Mabaya said.

Initial analysis, he said, seemed to indicate that the amendment had been
contravened. He said: “Minister Sisulu is adamant that, should the
department’s Special Investigations Unit find that there was a violation of
the Housing Act, steps will immediately be taken to protect the
beneficiaries of the houses.”

In the statement, the minister also called upon all beneficiaries of
government subsidy houses to protect their assets.

“We really appeal to our people to ensure that they protect their assets. If
you lose your government-subsidised house, you will not get another one.
This house is an asset and you must protect it at all costs,” she said.

“It is illegal to sell government subsidy houses before an eight-year period
and after the eight-year period it can only be sold or taken away in terms
of very specific government regulations,” Sisulu said.

Mabaya also referred to the 2004 Constitutional Court ruling in Japhta vs
Schoeman and Van Rooyen vs Stoltz in which the court held that a seizure of
a house was unconstitutional if it allowed an individual’s right to adequate
housing to be removed.

In light of this ruling a section of the Magistrates Act was amended to say
that any house can be sold if good cause can be shown and as long as it does
not violate the person’s constitutional right to adequate housing.

“This provision was specifically made to protect the poorest of the poor
against greedy lawyers and business people who are willing to take away the
most important asset any person will ever own to sometimes settle debt of
less than R300,” Mabaya said.

Chris Lessing, a partner at Lessing Heyns, refused to take The Herald’s
calls when contacted for comment on the minister’s decision to investigate
his firm’s practices.