City gets bloody nose over 'hijacked' building eviction

In a landmark decision, the High Court in Johannesburg has ordered the City of Joburg to pay over R12 million to a property company because of its failure to comply with a court order to provide temporary accommodation to unlawful occupiers of a "hijacked" building in the inner city.

- Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti

GroundUp

The ruling, by Acting Judge Dephny Mahosi, has significant ramifications for evictions across the country.

The story goes back to 2012 when Changing Tides, a property company, approached the court to evict 249 men, women and children from an 11-storey building known as Chung Hua Mansions.

The court granted the eviction but ordered the city to secure temporary accommodation for the families by 30 January, 2013.

But the City of Joburg failed to comply with the order and the matter was the subject of numerous court proceedings in the following years, none of which resulted in the dispute being resolved.