SQUATTERS have rights! Know yours. Scorpion Legal Protection policyholder Sibusiso was horrified when he came back from work one evening to find his shack had been demolished. His wife and children were picking through the rubble to recover their possessions. With nowhere to go, Sibusiso and his family were forced to sleep in the veld that night. A person or organisation that occupies property illegally, like Sibusiso, is considered a squatter. This includes someone whose lease has come to an end, but refuses to move out, a person who has sold a property, but doesn’t move out when the transfer has gone through, or people who go to live on a piece of land that doesn’t belong to them without the owner’s consent. Although squatters occupy property illegally, they still have rights. Section 26(3) of the Constitution stipulates that “No one may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without an order of court made after considering all the relevant circumstances. No legislation may permit arbitrary evictions.” This means landlords need to ensure that the eviction process is conducted in a way that is fair and within the law. Luckily, Sibusiso is a Scorpion Legal Protection
policyholder, and his lawyer was quick to inform him of his rights as a
squatter, and how to strike back legally. What rights do property owners have? Many people have the misconception that squatters have a legal right to occupy property indefinitely. Although it can in some situations be difficult to evict squatters, no person or organisation has any right in terms of our law to occupy property against the permission of the owner – unless this is sanctioned by a court of law. When a tenant or illegal occupier refuses to move out when asked, the property owner may approach the court to obtain a court order declaring it lawful to evict the unlawful occupier. This order will not be granted by the court unless the court is satisfied on two points: firstly, the unlawful occupier stands to be evicted in terms of our law; and secondly, that the terms of the eviction will be just and equitable to the occupier. But “just and equitable” is solely dependent on the
discretion of the court. WHAT legal recourse do evicted squatters have? If a person or organisation is unlawfully removed from a
property, that person or organisation may approach the court to have the removal
declared unlawful. They may return to the property until a court order that sanctions their eviction has been obtained. The evicted squatters may also get a punitive cost order to recover fees they paid in taking the matter to court. Scorpion Legal Protection is there to help policyholders like Sibusiso with cases of unlawful evictions. To find out
more, or to join, SMS “Day” to 34453 and they’ll call back with an
obligation-free quote. |