DURBAN - THE Durban High Court interdicted eThekwini Municipality and Durban metro police from removing people from a derelict building in Lancers Road, in Warwick Junction, in Durban.
The application was brought late on Sunday night by Sibanyoni attorneys acting on behalf of resident Siphiwe Khumalo and 1 000 others. This was just hours after police cleared the building of any occupants and shut down a brothel and shebeen operating from within the premises. The building had become an eyesore, attracted criminal elements and was on the municipal “bad buildings” list.
It was ordered that the applicants be allowed to return and stay in the property “for now”.
In his affidavit, Khumalo said he lived on the premises, which is a freehold residential property that has been developed with several blocks of flats consisting of more than 100 rooms, toilets and bathrooms with no electricity and water connection.
“The applicants have occupied these flats from early 2018. We came from different places, including Chesterville, uMlazi and Clermont due to us having no places to stay. Furthermore, these flats were vacant for many years.”
Khumalo said most of the flats’ occupants were single mothers with minor children. About 50% of them were unemployed. He said the police put all their furniture on to the street including beds, fridges and TVs. The children were put out with their mothers with no shelter. He said the eviction affected children and reduced them to tears.
About 100 or more families were evicted.
“I, together with others, had to live on the street. We are in a serious predicament. The applicants are in need of urgent temporary shelter. The eviction was conducted in an inhumane way and with no regard for the rights of the applicants.”
Advocate Maleka Andrew Matlamela said that the respondents were interdicted from unlawfully removing properties of the applicants, intimidating, threatening, assaulting and harassing the applicants.
Resident and community leader Siyabonga Dhlomo said residents were happy that the court had granted them permission to stay in the building.
He said many had nowhere to go and would have spent Christmas on the street, adding that a committee would be formed with residents to better manage the premises.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela made it clear that the city had not evicted anyone.
“You need a court order to evict someone. All the city did was enforce its by-laws in a building illegally occupied and not suitable for human settlement. The city is opposing any legal action instituted in this regard.”
In a report tabled before eThekwini Municipality’s executive committee in December 2020, the human settlements and infrastructure committee said the building – bordered by Julius Nyerere Avenue (formerly Warwick Avenue) and University, Lancers and Wills roads – would be redeveloped for social housing.
The eThekwini Human Settlements Unit recommended that the building be demolished and the existing illegal occupants moved to temporary relocation areas. The unit asked for the approval of a budget of R4.5 million to fund the appointment of a social facilitator, the perimeter fencing and construction of a temporary relocation area from the Urban Settlement Development Grant or from municipal funding, or both.
According to a recent eThekwini Human Settlement and infrastructure internal memorandum on the status of the building, which the Daily News has seen, it was allocated to a social housing institution Ubuntu Housing Company in 2018. Furthermore the existing structure is a condemned building in terms of building inspection and a structural engineer’s report deemed it unfit for human habitation.
The unit has obtained KZN Amafa heritage approval for the partial demolition of the existing structure.
Daily News