6 September 2024
Ally Al-Habsy was one of 38 people who had their dwellings on the Cape Town foreshore demolished by PRASA guards and contractors in August. PRASA has been ordered to return the building material or construct temporary structures for the land occupiers. Photo: Steve Kretzmann
The building material and personal possessions belonging to 38 people the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) attempted to evict from land on the Cape Town foreshore is to be returned to the land occupiers, the Western Cape High Court ruled on Friday.
Should PRASA fail to return the property, it has 24 hours to construct temporary dwellings for the land occupiers whose structures were demolished on 19 and 22 August, ruled Judge Tandazwa Ndita.
These should be “temporary habitable dwellings that afford shelter, privacy and amenities at least equivalent to those that were destroyed and/or disposed and/or damaged”, stated Ndita in her ruling handed down late on Friday afternoon.
The ruling came after housing activist organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi last week sought an urgent interdict against PRASA evicting the people who had been occupying a portion of Transnet-owned land along Old Marine Drive - some of them for more than a decade - without a court order.
One of the occupants, Ally Al-Habsy (64), a father of three children who was stabbed in the shoulder during the shelter demolitions on 22 August, said he was happy with the ruling.
“The judgment shows PRASA’s actions were unlawful and they should not have acted the way they did. The ball is now in their court to bring back our material,” said Al-Habsy.
“If they feel we should not be here they must follow the right channels. They came here and assaulted us for no reason,” said Al-Habsy.
Ndifuna Ukwazi released a statement welcoming the ruling. The organisation stated the ruling “affirms the constitutional rights of the occupiers who have lived on Transnet-owned land, some for more than two decades”.
Ndifuna Ukwazi stated: “The ruling serves as a powerful reminder of the protections enshrined in our Constitution for the most vulnerable members of our society. This is an absolute vindication of the constitutional right not to be evicted without a court order and a celebration of why we have a constitution that prevents this type of criminal behaviour by State entities.”
PRASA was ordered to pay costs.