Contempt of court application brought against SANDF

Residents of an informal settlement in Marievale, Gauteng, took the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday.

They are asking Judge Norman Davis to find the SANDF in contempt of court.

Marievale, which is on state land, used to be an old mining village. In November 2017, the SANDF evicted about 400 people living there. The residents sought help from Lawyers for Human Rights.

The Pretoria High Court ruled on 9 May that the families should be returned to their houses within 30 days or be provided with alternative accommodation if their old houses were not fit for habitation or had been occupied by members of the SANDF. This didn’t happen.

The SANDF did offer the residents two bungalows (old army barracks) containing about 120 beds each, closely packed together. But this is far short of the community’s needs. There is no place for their belongings and no privacy.

The SANDF offered to subdivide the bungalows to allow for more privacy, but this would have reduced the available space even further.

Meanwhile, the evicted residents have created an informal settlement about 400 metres from their old homes. They allege that the SANDF has cut the water pipes serving this area.

They have gone to court to ask Judge Davis to find that the minister of defence and various army personnel are in contempt of the May judgment. If successful, the state respondents could be imprisoned.

The SANDF “had not provided adequate alternative accommodation after indicating that the Marievale houses had been occupied by military personnel,” Marie-Anne de Vos argued on behalf of the Marievale families.

De Vos told the court that the bungalows provided by the SANDF were unfit for families to live in. The bungalows had to be partitioned, with men living on one side and women and children on the other, which she said was inadequate.

Advocate Taki Madima, representing the SANDF, argued that the court order had not been violated. He said since the SANDF provided the bungalows as alternative accommodation within the 30-day deadline, it was not in contempt of court.

He said the SANDF spent R1-million on the bungalows despite budget constraints. He accused the residents of looking for five-star accommodation.

Marievale families protested outside the court, singing: “SANDF, you are going down!”

Nonhlanhla Matju, one of the displaced residents, said she and her two children had to live with her mother after the eviction. “We never imagined that the day would come when the army came to our homes and forced us out. We were comfortable where we lived for years.”

Another resident, Thumi Weyi, said: “Our shack was destroyed by the SANDF in November. Now we are renting a place in Duduza for R1,800 per month. It is too much money. We are hoping that this time around, the SANDF will comply [with the court order] and provide us with houses.”

Weyi said he and his family were left with no choice but to leave the base, but he has not lost hope.

Judgment is expected on 30 November.

• This article was first published by GroundUp.