Port Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers
Encyclopedia
Port Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers, decided by the Constitutional Court
in 2005
, is an important case in South Africa
n law
, with significance especially for post-apartheid property rights and constitutional supremacy. The case concerned the fate of a small group of people who had been unlawfully occupying some vacant, unused and private land in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Port Elizabeth. At the instance of the landowners and a large number of concerned locals, the municipality applied for their eviction.
It fell to the court to decide whether the eviction could go ahead under the circumstances. It found that it could not. Sachs J
made reference to the judiciary's "new task," which was to manage "the counterpositioning of conventional rights of ownership against the new, equally relevant, right not to be arbitrarily deprived of a home, without creating hierarchies of privilege." The statute relied upon by the municipality, the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE), was found to require the courts to "infuse elements of grace and compassion into the formal structures of the law," and confirmed with the Constitution that "we are not islands unto ourselves," and that the courts are "called upon to balance competing interests in a principled way and promote the constitutional vision of a caring society based on good neighbourliness and shared concern." The Bill of Rights in particular is "nothing if not a structured, institutionalised and operational declaration in our evolving new society of the need for human interdependence, respect and concern."
The court's reasoning "represents a profound commentary on the way in which property law is to be understood in light of the Constitution."
Constitutional Court of South Africa
The Constitutional Court of South Africa was established in 1994 by South Africa's first democratic constitution: the Interim Constitution of 1993. In terms of the 1996 Constitution the Constitutional Court established in 1994 continues to hold office. The court began its first sessions in February...
in 2005
2005 in South Africa
-January:* 13 January – Mark Thatcher pleads guilty to unwittingly bankrolling an alleged coup d'état plot in Equatorial Guinea.* 31 January – Thabo Mbeki, the President of South Africa, has a narrow escape when he is nearly hit by a car shortly after the African Union heads-of-state summit in...
, is an important case in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, with significance especially for post-apartheid property rights and constitutional supremacy. The case concerned the fate of a small group of people who had been unlawfully occupying some vacant, unused and private land in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Port Elizabeth. At the instance of the landowners and a large number of concerned locals, the municipality applied for their eviction.
It fell to the court to decide whether the eviction could go ahead under the circumstances. It found that it could not. Sachs J
Albie Sachs
Albie Sachs was a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He was appointed to the court by Nelson Mandela in 1994 and retired in October 2009...
made reference to the judiciary's "new task," which was to manage "the counterpositioning of conventional rights of ownership against the new, equally relevant, right not to be arbitrarily deprived of a home, without creating hierarchies of privilege." The statute relied upon by the municipality, the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE), was found to require the courts to "infuse elements of grace and compassion into the formal structures of the law," and confirmed with the Constitution that "we are not islands unto ourselves," and that the courts are "called upon to balance competing interests in a principled way and promote the constitutional vision of a caring society based on good neighbourliness and shared concern." The Bill of Rights in particular is "nothing if not a structured, institutionalised and operational declaration in our evolving new society of the need for human interdependence, respect and concern."
The court's reasoning "represents a profound commentary on the way in which property law is to be understood in light of the Constitution."