http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5397125

‘Squatter ruling not relevant in Cape’

By Ella Smook Metro Writer

The City of Cape Town says it is “unlikely” to face a court order similar to the recent Johannesburg High Court “squatter” judgment, which human settlements minister Tokyo Sexwale believes holds dire consequences for municipalities and the national purse.

Last month, Judge Brian Spilg ruled that Joburg had a duty to provide housing, even in cases where illegal squatters were evicted from private land.

The municipality was ordered to compensate the private landowner in the matter, at market-related value, for his land being illegally occupied and also to either provide alternative accommodation to the evicted squatters, or financial compensation of R850 a month.

The ruling unleashed anxiety in many quarters, with warnings that it could cause a collapse in Joburg’s infrastructure and cripple municipalities across the country.

At the time, the City of Cape Town declined to respond to the judgment before studying it, but mayco member for finance Ian Neilson said it was worrying that the city might in future not be able to plan adequately and implement a “decent housing policy”, if it was continuously forced to respond to legal actions and pay for situations where people had acted illegally.

Judge Spilg himself acknowledged that the judgment held a “real risk” of an “avalanche of litigation”.

But the city’s lawyers this week responded to questions put by the Cape Argus at the time of the judgment, saying the Blue Moonlight (Joburg) case could be distinguished from the facts of “any case the City of Cape Town might be a party to”.

Spokeswoman Kylie Hatton said the local housing policy could not be compared to Joburg’s, which was found to be unconstitutional. “Cape Town’s housing policy has recently again been found to be constitutional in the high court and has withstood legal scrutiny,” she said on behalf of the city’s legal team.

Last week, Sexwale said that he might approach Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo to voice his concern that the Joburg ruling could throw housing policy into chaos. The judgment, which is on appeal, amounted to “the legalisation of illegality”.

Commenting on how the city was acting to avoid landing in a similar situation as Joburg, Hatton said the anti-land invasion unit played a vital role in stopping land grabs by people who wanted to jump the housing waiting list, which had a backlog of 400 000.

Furthermore, in cases where the landowner agreed, the city provided services for people living on privately owned land.

Before the ruling Joburg only accommodated those who were evicted from state land, even though people evicted from private property faced the same fate.

This meant Cape Town was “unlikely to be in danger of a similar order being granted against it”, Hatton said.

* This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on March 19, 2010