Farm workers in the Western Cape winelands are still living in single-sex hostels at Oak Valley, as they were during apartheid. Now they are taking legal action. By Ra’eesa Pather In the pristine lands of one of the Western Cape’s best known farms, workers are restless. After months of negotiations and protest action, they have filed a court application for a...

By Ra’eesa Pather On a vast piece of land known as Mabcinde in Masiphumelele township, Cape Town, water laps at the bases of the homes people have built for themselves. Long reeds rise from the damp ground and a canal – littered with plastic bags and glass bottles – snakes through the settlement. “We are drowning here,” says 31-year-old Khulansande Ghanyanza. In...

More than 50 tenants of a derelict building in Hillbrow have taken their landlord to the Constitutional Court. When can a landlord evict law-abiding tenants in order to effect refurbishments? And when can a landlord evict tenants for this reason on an urgent basis? These two questions are currently before the Constitutional Court in an application for leave to appeal...

Kanana families want to be housed on site By Phathiswa Shushwana Some residents of Kanana informal settlement in Gugulethu are refusing to move to a new R1.1 billion development in Forest Village. The residents say they were told in a community meeting by ward councillor Bongani Ngcombolo in October that they must move to houses in Forest Village in Eersteriver to make way...

Pretoria High Court orders banks to use magistrates’ courts when acting against debtors 4 October 2018   By Ciaran Ryan A full bench of the Pretoria High Court ruled last week that magistrates’ courts should be the first port of call for banks seeking judgment against their clients. On Wednesday we explained the arguments in the case that dealt with access to justice for distressed...

King Sibiya of the Lungelo Lethu Human Rights Foundation has gone to court in a case that will have implications for home-owners struggling to pay their bonds. By Ciaran Ryan 16 August 2018 A landmark case to decide how banks should deal with home repossessions will be heard on 28 and 29 August in the South Gauteng High Court. This follows a directive by...