The matter raised by the Honourable Member falls within the ambit of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, hereinafter referred to as the City.
Nevertheless, I have been advised that the City has approached the High Court for an application that consists of three phases:
The purpose of the survey is to determine the number of illegal occupants, their identities, monthly income and eligibility for state-subsidised housing and whether any illegal occupants fall within the vulnerable groups as stated in Section 4 of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation of Land Act No. 19 of 1998 (‘Pie Act’)
I am informed that the City is aware of its constitutional obligations in this matter, hence it launched Part 1 of the application to survey the illegal occupants, because Section 26 of the Constitution provides that “everyone has a right to access to adequate housing”. Section 26(2) confers a duty upon the State to progressively facilitate access to adequate housing within its available resources.
The issue of alternative accommodation will be addressed once the survey has been completed, as the results of the survey will be a consideration in the eviction proceedings.