The Johannesburg High Court has dismissed an application by the City of Johannesburg seeking an eviction order to remove residents at an old age home in Florida, west of Johannesburg.
The municipality sought to remove all residents from the Donovan MacDonald Retirement Centre.
This was in an attempt to regain control of the building after losing control of the facility.
However, in a judgment handed down electronically on Monday by Judge Stuart Wilson, the city’s application was dismissed.
On August 20, the city brought an application before the Joburg High Court seeking to remove the retirement home’s occupants.
The centre is an 183-unit housing the elderly. The city owns and runs it.
Units poorly maintained
In court papers, the City of Joburg stated that it wants everyone removed from the centre so that it can take control of it. It said it can no longer say who resides there.
“The city alleges that a number of units and the common areas at the centre are poorly maintained or have been vandalised, although there is no suggestion that the condition of the buildings at the centre is such as to present a risk of harm to its residents,” said Wilson in his judgment.
“Some of the units have become illegally occupied. Others are said to be used to peddle drugs.
“One unit is alleged to accommodate sex workers. The city’s papers do not adequately explain how this happened.
“The city itself has taken no responsibility for allowing the conditions at the centre to deteriorate to the extent that they have.
“The city is nonetheless clear about what it wants to do to bring the centre back under its control.”
City exacerbated the problems
Wilson said the law authorises the urgent eviction of unlawful occupiers in circumstances where the applicant cannot be expected to wait for the outcome of an eviction application brought in the ordinary course.
He said because the city’s papers do nothing to isolate and identify the individual occupants of the centre who are the source of the unlawful conduct of which it complains, he cannot say how many other “vetted” residents of the centre are similarly dependent on “unvetted” members of their family or other carers who are present at the centre technically unlawfully.
“For at least these reasons, the application must fail. It would be wrong to dispose of this case without pointing out that the city appears to have both caused and exacerbated the problems it says this application is meant to address.
“Whatever the extent of the deterioration of living conditions at the centre, the city must take its share of the responsibility for failing to prevent that deterioration,” said Wilson.
