JPC counts costs of evictions

People cannot live on City-owned property illegally as it impedes service delivery, says the JPC, which would prefer to use the land to benefit people.
HUNDREDS of thousands of rands have been spent by the Joburg Property Company (JPC) in legal fees to evict illegal occupants of and demolish illegal structures on City-owned land and property.

An illegal building is torn down by City workersAn illegal building is torn down by City workersAccording to the JPC’s executive manager, Mlungisi Shongwe, illegal occupants of City-owned land were hampering community development plans and affecting the financial position of the City. “The procedures required to obtain orders to evict people or demolish illegal structures costs an average of over R50 000 per case,” said Shongwe.

These costs include issuing instructions to the attorney, drafting papers, consulting counsel, settling papers and advocates’ appearance fees. “In most cases the costs are not recovered from illegal squatters, who are not able to pay back the money.”

Shongwe said the City had spent almost R300 000 in demolishing illegal structures in Lenasia, Power Park and Dlamini.

“There is no way we can allow people to stay and use City-owned property. It’s a huge cost that impedes service delivery.” He added that the JPC would rather lease the land for constructive purposes that would benefit its communities.

As an example, he mentioned land in Dobsonville, in Soweto that was illegally occupied and had structures built on it. The land was earmarked for building a community health centre to cater for the needs of locals.

“The development has been delayed due to the legal processes required to evict and demolish illegal occupants and structures,” said Shongwe.

The JPC was recently granted court orders to evict occupants and demolish structures in Joburg that did not follow due process as required by the Municipal Finance Management Act. “In most cases, we have been awarded costs and in others the legal process is not complete as occupants have lodged appeals against the City.”

At present, it is locked in a wrangle with El Peretz, a religious organisation that illegally occupied the Jewish Bowling Club in Observatory without following the proper procedures. The church used a fraudulent lease agreement to claim occupation of the facility without paying for its use.