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Cape Town Greater Dan Plato.
- The City of Cape Town intends to petition the Supreme Court of Appeals following its request for authorization to appeal a judgment of illegal occupation of land.
- He believes that not being able to clean up empty structures built on illegally occupied land without a court order will be detrimental.
- Fear “land invasions” will invade the city.
The City of Cape Town intends to petition the Supreme Court of Appeals after the Western Cape Superior Court dismissed its attempt to reverse a ruling preventing it from cleaning illegally constructed vacant shacks without a court order.
“The South African Human Rights Commission [SAHRC] legal proceedings have been initiated against the city of Cape Town in recent weeks to prohibit us from avoiding illegal land occupations, ”Mayor Dan Plato said in a statement.
“The court ruled in favor of the SAHRC and the city of Cape Town requested authorization to appeal the sentence. Our request was today rejected,” he added.
READ | Homeowners must be able to protect their property by removing structures before it is occupied – Winde
“We simply cannot tolerate illegal land occupations encroaching on this city given the Western Cape Superior Court injunction requiring the City to obtain a court order to demolish vacant structures, that is, structures that do not qualify as housing.”
Plato added that the right to counter-plunder was vital to the City’s land protection efforts, as time is of the essence to remove unoccupied structures during “land invasions” organized without a court order.
Bulelani Qolani at the door of the hut that was knocked down with him inside. It was rebuilt by neighbors.
He said that for the evictions and dismantling of occupied structures, court orders were obtained in accordance with the Eviction Prevention and Illicit Land Occupation Act.
Next week, the court will hear the SAHRC’s request to declare counter-looting illegal.
“This dangerous precedent would not only seriously affect the City’s ability to protect public lands, but also the rights of each and every landowner to do so.”
Counter-looting is legal action taken to recover illegally taken property.
“As mayor, my commitment to residents remains that we will fight for the right to protect public lands from illegal occupation at all times.”
The request to stop evictions without a court order came after the highly publicized eviction of Bulelani Qolani during the confinement when evictions were not allowed, but illegal occupation of land was not allowed either.
Qolani was filmed being chased and accosted without clothes and his hut was destroyed while he was inside.
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