Homeshare stand off heads to court

BCM to take legal steps if state fails to move families

BUFFALO City Metro has threatened legal action against the Ministry of Human Settlements if it does not ensure that 13 families in Mdantsane sharing houses move out.

City lawyers Wesley Pretorius and Associates wrote on March 13 last year that the impasse of the families not wanting to move can only be resolved by Human Settlements invoking its policy.

The metro has asked 13 of the 26 families occupying 13 four-room houses to move to Unit P in Potsdam. However, none of them are willing to leave.

Attorney Wesley Pretorius wrote that the families were moved into the houses by the apartheid government where two families would each have two rooms. The houses were not owned by the families but they had certificates of occupation which allowed them to stay as tenants.

BCM had taken resolutions on the matter, including a “political intervention”, while possible solutions included that council compel the families to move through a court order.

“Should the dispute remain unresolved it will have no option but to declare a formal intergovernmental dispute, and if the dispute thereafter remains unresolved, to seek appropriate relief from the high court,” Pretorius wrote.

He said some of the original recipients of the certificates of occupation had died and their descendants now lived in the houses.

Council resolved to remedy the matter by allowing one family to remain in the house and obtaining agreement for the other to relocate.

“There are 13 houses containing 26 families where our client has not been able to resolve which family is to remain in Mdantsane,” he wrote.

Pretorius said at the heart of the problem confronting BCM were competing constitutional rights.

“On the one hand, Section 10 of the Constitution guarantees every person the right to have their dignity respected and protected while Section 26 (1) stipulates that everyone has the right of access to adequate housing,” Pretorius wrote.

Head of Human Settlements Francois Hugo responded on March 14 last year on behalf of former minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

“On behalf of the Minister of Human Settlements, Ms LN Sisulu, I write to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail. The matter is receiving attention and will be brought to the attention of the minister,” he wrote.

It could not, however, be determined if any steps had been taken since then as BCM failed to respond to questions e-mailed on Thursday.

Current Human Settlements Minister Nomaindia Mfeketo could not be reached for comment at the time of writing yesterday.

National Human Settlements spokesman Xolani Xundu also had not commented by print deadline. —