Evicted tenants get no help from cops during level 3

SOME POLICE officers have refused to enforce the level 3 regulations against landlords who have removed their tenants forcibly.

This might be an indication of law enforcement reverting to the refrain that tenancy is a civil matter.

As the lockdown levels begin to ease, the frustrations and anger between landlords and tenants are intensifying. Tenants are unable to pay and landlords unlikely to recover unpaid rentals, and most are unable to turn to the courts for relief because of the high legal costs.

Last week, landlords in the ethekwini metropolitan area unlawfully forced out several tenants. Two families from Phoenix, one from Newlands and one from Morningside approached the police to protect them from being forcibly removed from their rental properties.

In one instance, a tenant from Chatsworth said her landlord, a police officer, forced her out of the property. The police refused to act, claiming that these were civil disputes between landlords and tenants, and they needed to turn to the courts.

In the May 26 article (“It is wrong to think tenants have more rights than landlords. Here’s why?”), we referred to the case of Chantel Pretorius, a tenant who failed to pay her full rentals for a one-bedroom flat in a complex in Parow, Cape Town.

After what she said was months of harassment, threats and intimidation, she was forced to apply for a protection order from the Bellville court, against her landlord, before the lockdown.

Her landlord responded to questions put to him regarding the alleged harassment and protection order. He was asked whether it was true that he harassed, intimidated and threatened her for months because of unpaid rentals. He was also asked whether he hammered down the door, entered her flat and removed all her belongings without a court order.

His response was a copy of an order he obtained from the small claims court in August last year for substantial rental arrears (R18 441).

The order stated that should Pretorius fail to settle the arrears, the matter would be transferred to the magistrate’s court.

Pretorius, rendered homeless and emotionally distressed and vulnerable, turned to Parow police station where she contacted the investigating officer in her protection order case.

The officer informed her the police were unable to act because it was up to the court to decide if her landlord acted unlawfully since the lockdown rules changed daily.

The landlord did not provide a copy of a court order nor claim that he secured one from the court. Even if he did, ejectment orders and warrants of execution were suspended from level 5 until the end of level 3.

As for lawful evictions, South Africa is to lift the ban at the end of level 3, whereas some governments have extended their ban due to the surge in coronavirus infections.

In England and Wales, where the ban on evictions was introduced in March and is due to end on June 25, it has been extended by a further two months, to the end of August. New York’s state-wide eviction moratorium, passed into law on March 20, has been extended to August 20 along with the freezing of late payment or missed rental payment fees.

In the meantime, South African tenants, landlords and their representatives can contact the provincial rental housing tribunals. The nine provincial tribunals have jurisdiction over unfair practice complaints between landlords and tenants arising from residential lease agreements.

The tribunals’ authority is derived from Section 13 (9) of the Rental Housing Act, giving it “exclusive jurisdiction” over unfair practice disputes, except for evictions.

Landlords seeking to obtain an eviction or ejectment order should not approach the tribunals because the tribunals do not have the power to grant an eviction order. This is due to the fact that, under the Constitution, the tribunals are not courts. Read with section 26 (3) of the Constitution that states that no one may be evicted from their home without an order of court, made after considering all the relevant circumstances, tribunals cannot deal with eviction applications.

Some tribunals, while operating under severe constraints in level 3, are doing their best to assist landlords and tenants with their disputes.

Notwithstanding the backlog of unfair practice complaints from level 5, priority is being given to urgent matters. Those who want to lodge their unfair practice complaints may contact the following tribunals, bearing in mind that at times it may not be possible to get through to the tribunals because of the high volume of calls.

◆ Kwazulu Natal Rental Housing Tribunal. Email info.rht@kzndhs. gov.za. Telephone 031 372 1808 /06/04/03/00.

◆ Northern Cape Rental Housing Tribunal. Mary-ann Sekoto: 053 830 9453 or zriet@ncpg.gov.za. Lank Paul: 053 830 9572 or lpaul@ ncpg.gov.za.

◆ Free State Rental Housing Tribunal: fsrht@fshs.gov.za.

◆ Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal: Wednesdays only: 011 630 5035 / 36 / 37 / 5038. Email: rentaltribunal@ gauteng.gov.za.

◆ Western Cape Rental Housing Tribunal. Email: rht.disputes@westerncape.gov.za. Telephone: 021 483 4598.

We will update the contact details, together with the other provincial tribunals.

Through telephonic conferences, tribunals are attempting to resolve dispute through mediation.

Currently, they are unable to conduct hearings until proper measures are put in place to ensure the public and tribunal’s safety.

◆ Tenants in need of advice during the lockdown period, can Whatsapp Pretty Gumede at 071 346 5595, or Loshni Naidoo at 071 444 5671 or email loshni@ocr.org.za, contact Dr Mohamed at civicrights@ocr.org.za.