Blaming non-governmental organisations and other entities which uphold the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (the PIE Act) is an inappropriate response to the discourse of reclaiming the Joburg inner city.
That is the view of the South African Human Rights Commission SAHRC) which has opened its own-accord investigation and hopes to make contributions to the ongoing discussions on possible solutions to the housing challenges engulfing the Gauteng province.
The problems came to the fore recently when at least 77 Joburg inner city residents, living in a hijacked building without amenities, died in a fire.
In the resultant discussions, several government officials at municipal, provincial and national level blamed non-governmental organisations, particularly the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) for representing the vulnerable people living in hijacked building and getting court interdicts to stop the forced removals.
Gauteng provincial manager of the SAHRC, Zamantungwa Mbeki said the current discourse requires all State organs to work together to address the issue of hijacked buildings.
“Blaming NGOs and other entities for upholding the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act and highlighting the State’s non-compliance with the statute is not the correct course to follow.
“The tragedy highlights the issue and challenges of urban migration, as well as city planning which has been previously highlighted by the commission during its visits to hospitals in Gauteng,” said Mbeki.
The SAHRC said the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act of 1998 was enacted due to South Africa’s history of arbitrary evictions during the colonial era. At the time, the commission said, a landowner could evict any person from their home as and when they wished, without any State intervention.
“The PIE Act was enacted to give life to section 26(3) of the Constitution so that no one may be arbitrarily deprived of property. This includes instances where the State is the landowner, but also where there is private ownership (lessee/lessor).
“The commission wishes to emphasise that the requirement for a lawful eviction to take place, is that the evictor must obtain a court order as well as follow all the necessary procedures,” said Mbeki.
With estimates showing that by 2030, around 70% of the national population will be residing in urban areas, Mbeki said municipalities and all State departments need to consider and plan adequately to meet the demand for basic services, including housing, health care, and education.
“This requires a cohesive, cooperative, and proactive approach.
“The commission urges all State departments to consider the tragedy as an opportunity to reconsider their planning as the country is crippled by a shrinking fiscus, load shedding, unemployment, landlessness, water-shedding, and other socio-economic problems,” Mbeki said.
Following the Joburg CBD fire tragedy at Usindiso building, the SAHRC has applauded the Johannesburg Emergency and Management Services for their work in saving the lives of some of the residents, and providing aid for all those who were left destitute.
“The commission again wishes to extend its condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the tragedy and urges all South Africans to remember them and their families during this difficult time,” said Mbeki.
So far, the Gauteng Forensic Pathology Service has managed to identify additional people from the 62 which had been unidentifiable from the Johannesburg inner-city building fire last month.
Salvaged fingerprints of the deceased were processed through the digital fingerprint system to identify 11 more people.
Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health, Motalatale Modiba said after autopsies were done and the deceased cleaned, further body examinations were done where another seven bodies were identified by families through various features such as tattoos and other body marks.
“This means 18 more bodies were identified, bringing the number of identifiable bodies to 30 when combined with the 12 that were originally identifiable. The number of unidentifiable bodies is now 44,” said Modiba.
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