Court orders that homes must be built by end of year
By Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti
In a landmark judgment on 15 December, the Pretoria High Court ordered the City of Ekurhuleni to build houses for as many as 133 households by the end of 2018. The judgment sets an important precedent for residents who successfully applied for housing subsidies as far back as 2000, but are yet to be allocated their houses.
The litigation was initiated by the Ekurhuleni Concerned Residents’ Association and 133 residents of Winnie Mandela informal settlement in Ekurhuleni. All the residents involved in the litigation had applied for housing subsidies, with some having applied as far back as 1998. The residents’ applications had been processed and were successful. However, several years passed without any of them being allocated houses.
In 2005, the residents began to engage with the state on their plight. They also formed a residents’ association. Nothing came of these engagements. Frustrated, the residents approached the Public Protector’s Office in 2012, but nothing came of this either.