Thubakgale and Others v Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and Others (39602/2015) [2017] ZAGPPHC 923; 2018 (6) SA 584 (GP) (15 December 2017)

Thubakgale and Others v Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and Others (39602/2015) [2017] ZAGPPHC 923; 2018 (6) SA 584 (GP) (15 December 2017)

The court found that the respondents breached the applicants' constitutional right of access to adequate housing by failing to allocate stands and houses to them despite their approved housing subsidies. The allocation of stands to other individuals was not in accordance with the National Housing Code or the Housing...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2017] ZAGPPHC 923
Parties
Applicant: Thupetji Alexander Thubakgale; Applicant: Ekurhuleni Concerned Residents Association; Applicant: Residents of Winnie Mandela Informal Settlement; Respondent: Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; Respondent: Executive Mayor, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; Respondent: City Manager, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; Respondent: Head of Department, Human Settlement, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; Respondent: MEC for Human Settlement, Gauteng Province; Respondent: Minister of Human Settlement
Court
North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Judgment Date
15 December 2017
Case Number
39602/2015
Procedural Posture
Review Application / Judgment
Outcome
Application granted. The respondents are ordered to provide the applicants with houses and register them as titleholders within specified timeframes.
Judges
M J Teffo
Legal Topics
Right of Access to Housing, Housing Subsidy Allocation, Progressive Realisation of Rights, National Housing Code, Administrative Reasonableness
Constitutional Law Land and Property Right of Access to Housing Housing Subsidy Allocation Progressive Realisation of Rights National Housing Code Administrative Reasonableness

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Parties

Thupetji Alexander Thubakgale

Applicant

Ekurhuleni Concerned Residents Association

Applicant

Residents of Winnie Mandela Informal Settlement

Applicant

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Respondent

Executive Mayor, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Respondent

City Manager, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Respondent

Head of Department, Human Settlement, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Respondent

MEC for Human Settlement, Gauteng Province

Respondent

Minister of Human Settlement

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Review Application / Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the respondents breached the applicants' constitutional right of access to adequate housing and the laws and policies adopted to give effect to those rights.
  2. 2 What is the appropriate remedy for such breach.

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that the respondents breached the applicants' constitutional right of access to adequate housing by failing to allocate stands and houses to them despite their approved housing subsidies. The allocation of stands to other individuals was not in accordance with the National Housing Code or the Housing Act. The respondents' explanations regarding dummy numbers and administrative errors were not justifiable, and their delay in providing housing was unreasonable. The court held that the applicants, as approved beneficiaries, were entitled to transfer of the properties and that the respondents failed to prioritise the correction of the breach. The respondents' reliance on...

Court Disposition

Application granted. The respondents are ordered to provide the applicants with houses and register them as titleholders within specified timeframes.

Orders

  • The first respondent is ordered to provide each of the first and the third to one hundred and thirty-fourth applicants with a house at Tembisa Extension 25, or another agreed location, on or before 31 December 2018.
  • The first respondent is ordered to register the residents as titleholders of their respective erven by 31 December 2019.