Three former MK Party members have been issued eviction notices for unlawfully occupying the parliamentary village in Cape Town, minister of public works and infrastructure Dean Macpherson said on Monday.
Macpherson said he had authorised the department to go ahead with court proceedings, including a cost order, against the three former MPs.
The three were part of a group of 14 MPs who took the MK Party to court after they were removed from the party list to parliament in August last year.
Macpherson said notices were issued to the three by the state attorney to vacate by last Friday. However, they had failed to meet the order.
His spokesperson, James De Villiers, said eviction proceedings, to be launched in the coming days, are in line with his belief that no individual had the right to occupy public property meant to serve the country.
“As a country which respects the rule of law, we can never allow individuals to be above it and unlawfully occupy state property that has an intended public benefit. Since we entered office 21 months ago, we have acted decisively to protect public property against illegal occupation and have launched a number of eviction cases, such as at Wingfield in Cape Town and on prime agricultural land near East London. We will apply this principle equally to former members of parliament occupying buildings intended for use by current MPs and sessional officials,” Macpherson said.
“It remains extremely concerning that the department has been placed in the middle of a dispute between political parties and those whose membership they have chosen to terminate. The department cannot and should not be drawn into a legal fight in this regard — our responsibility is to the South African public and to protecting state property for their benefit.”
After years of indecisive management, where public property has been allowed to be unlawfully occupied and vandalised, we are working tirelessly to restore accountability across every property vested in the department
— James De Villiers, spokesperson
De Villiers said the department would continue to work with all law enforcement agencies to maintain the rule of law, and remain open to mediation with the former members of parliament to ensure a peaceful relocation.
“After years of indecisive management, where public property has been allowed to be unlawfully occupied and vandalised, we are working tirelessly to restore accountability across every property vested in the department.”
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhela said it was the party that had reported the three to the National Assembly speaker. He said it was MK that had initiated the proceedings.
He called Macpherson politically opportunistic by referring to the three as MK members.
“Those people are not even MK members. They found themselves on our lists when they were not MK members. The state must do what it needs to do. We have done what we need to do in assisting the state. Had we not taken them to court, Macpherson would not have been able to evict them.
“He must not come and play cheap politics to try to score cheap points,” said Ndhela.
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