Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has been granted leave to appeal the judgment that it must provide temporary housing to residents evicted by their landlord, Woodstock Hub, in Bromwell Street, Woodstock.
Earlier on Tuesday the City’s application for leave to appeal was granted by Judge Mark Sher in the Western Cape High Court. The case will now be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
In September the judge ruled the City’s emergency housing policy “unconstitutional'', and ordered the City to make available temporary housing to the 26 applicants.
This judgment followed a case between Bromwell Street residents, the City of Cape Town and Woodstock Hub.
Bromwell Street residents were ordered to leave their homes that they had been living in for years after the property was bought by property developers, Woodstock Hub.
Residents took action against the City, demanding temporary housing following eviction orders which they did not follow.
The judgment handed down in September stated: “Applicants are entitled to an order directing the City to provide them with ‘temporary’ emergency accommodation or ‘transitional’ housing in Woodstock, Salt River or the Inner-City Precinct, in a location which is as near as feasibly possible to where the applicants are currently residing in Woodstock.”
The judge ordered the City to provide temporary housing to all applicants within twelve months.
The City was also ordered to make available to the court proof of provision of temporary housing within four months of the order. This, however, has not been provided yet.
Danielle Louw, from Ndifuna Ukwazi, representing the Bromwell street residents, said the judge was of the view that a different court may come to another view and conclusion.
“This is because the City is a large metropolitan municipality so the judgment may affect the policies that it would henceforth declare”.
Louw added that “the matter will now be heard afresh by the Supreme Court of Appeal”.
“All the records, all the documents, the record will remain the same. It’s just now that another court will have an opportunity to make their decision.”
Advocate Karrisha Pillay appeared on behalf of the City.