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The Story of Farm Evictions in Drakenstein
Municipality, Western Cape Province
A case study in search of inter-governmental collaboration and
local municipal relief.
AUTHORS: LENE LE ROUX & SHANTAL HARIGOBIN
PART 1: THE CASE OF FARM EVICTIONS IN DRAKENSTEIN MUNICIPALITY
D
rakenstein Municipality has a total of 2 359 farms. Its population currently stands at approximately 251 262. The municipality reported, in August 2014, that they have 38 221 households
with housing needs. It means that these households have been registered on the ‘waiting list’ compiled by the municipality to assist the
Department of Human Settlements in the housing delivery projects
that are subsidised by the State. Since 2009 Drakenstein Municipality, have begun to record the number of farm evictions that have occurred within their jurisdiction. A total of 351 have been documented. The graph shows an even spread of eviction cases that took
place over the years, with a prominent spike in the 2012/2013 financial year, possibly due to the Farmworker Strike of 2012. This is
the highest in the Cape Winelands District and the Western Cape
Province. It was estimated by the Municipality that approximately 674 households are threatened by evictions.
I
n their research, Drakenstein Municipality, have deduced that the
increase in the number of court applications for evictions and the
granting thereof, is as a result of a number of factors:
Legal Farm Eviction Cases in Drakenstein Municipality
Legal Eviction Cases
1. The breach of provisions of various Acts.
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2. Limited response from relevant government departments on eviction cases reported, delays on their responsibilities and monitoring
of evictions.
3. Labour action and loss of employment.
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4. Employment elsewhere but with no provision of accommodation .
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5. Unstable relations between landowner and farm dwellers.
2009/2010
2010/2011
2011/2012
2012/2013
2013/2014
6. Economic factors: sector diversification, sector operational requirements and market trends.
April 2014 – Sept
2014
7. Legislative and policy implications.
A
number of legislation, policies and case laws have enabled legal evictions that protect private property owners and aim
to protect evictees, with the assumption that municipalities
are able to provide adequate shelter to those deemed
homeless through evictions:
8. Perception that government is solely responsible for provision of all basic services and housing .
1. Sections 25 and 26(1); (2) and (3) of the Constitution.
2. Housing Act 107 of 1997
3. National Housing Code
4. Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act 3 of 1996
5. Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act 31 of 1996
L
egislative requirements and expectations have been noted since
Drakenstein Municipality have become respondents in farm
eviction cases. Some key requirements/expectations are:
1. Planning & provision of emergency temporary accommodation;
2. Provision of alternative accommodation is requirement in determining whether an eviction order is ‘just and equitable’;
3. Joint responsibility to develop and provide policies, programmes
and plans for evictions, housing & long-term tenure security;
6. Prevention of Illegal Eviction from, and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 (PIE Act)
7. Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997
Some significant court cases that have deemed municipalities responsible for provision of alternative accommodation, emergency housing, meaningful engagement and mediation:
1. Grootboom v Government, RSA
2. Occupiers of 51 Olivia Road v City of Johannesburg
3. Blue Moonlight Properties v City of Johannesburg
4. Meaningful engagement, mediation and negotiations required; and
4. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality v Various Occupiers
5. Provide information on eviction cases and compile and file report
in terms of precedent.
5. Redelinghuys v 3 Others
T
hus far Drakenstein Municipality have responded in the following
ways :
1. Largely ad hoc interventions as resources become available;
2. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) or response guidelines on how to
proceed with evictions;
3. Project interventions include: Emergency housing, survey of potential
evictees, strategy development for evictions management and long-term
tenure security.
PART 2: TOWARDS INTER-GOVERNMENTAL (IGR) COLLABORATION
A
ctions required on evictions, tenure security and housing have been
developed by Drakenstein Municipality :

1. A government-wide response to address the needs of vulnerable farm
dwellers:
 Consider the implications of principal and secondary legislation, as well as existing policies and funding programs, when
implementing provisions of ESTA.
 More in depth research on the impact, profiles, costs of the
evictions and analysis of judgments/court orders to determine
the appropriate response to evictions.
 Formulate or review policies to provide clarity; define roles &
responsibilities of local government in relation to tenure security, service provision; meaningful engagement on evictions;
consideration of costs, capacity, suitable & available land.
2. Joint planning & prioritisation of resources, interventions in terms of
IGR/cooperative governance principles as per Constitutional obligations.
3. Sustainable implementation support from National and Provincial Departments to local government to take reasonable legislative & other
measures within its available resources to achieve progressive realization
of rights:

July 2014
1. Matter raised to SALGA National IGR Working Group
1. Drakenstein Municipality
meets with DRDLR Western
Cape office, SALGA attended.
August & September 2014
1. Western Cape MinMay Technical Meeting
2. SALGA engages National Department of
Justice & DRDLR




Funding agreements with relevant stakeholders & role-players
in support of Council priorities for service delivery for rural &
farm communities;
Research, planning & implementation support;
Support with rural Community Based Planning for human settlements, basic services on privately-owned land & evictions
processes;
Facilitate & conduct land audit, identification/acquisition &
development for integrated & sustainable human settlements;
Facilitate information sharing (capacity-building, public sessions) regarding support available, rights-based education; and
Develop an evictions response plan .
R
ecommendations were provided by Drakenstein Municipality as they
began to advocate for IGR assistance with farm evictions. These have
been articulated below:
1. Establish a District/Provincial platform for engagement regarding consequences of evictions, implementation of the FARE report recommendations regarding land reform and evictions.
2. Ensure involvement from relevant national and provincial departments:
Rural Development & Land Reform, Agriculture, Human Settlements,
Social Development, Labour, Justice & Constitutional Development,
Treasury, COGTA, SAPS, affected Municipalities.
3. Possibly develop a task team within the Province to facilitate considerations for an evictions response plan for Municipalities.
4. Accelerate the issue of joint planning for evictions facilitation and management for further engagement.
IGR ENGAGEMENTS
February 2014
4 December 2013
17 October 2013
Multi-stakeholder information sharing session on
farm evictions & tenure security in local government
with Cape Winelands District and local municipalities, DRDLR, DoA and relevant NGO.
Multi-departmental meeting held
with: DoA; DRDLR; Water Affairs; Human Settlements; Local
Government; Provincial Treasury;
DEADP.
Drakenstein Municipality request SALGA to accompany
them with a meeting with Department Rural Development &
Land Reform (DRDLR).
Case stated by Drakenstein Municipality on political
and technical platforms at (1) SALGA IGR Working
Group, and (2) Cape Winelands District Coordinating Forum (DCF).
RESOLUTIONS OF 2014
November 2014

Stakeholder Engagement with Minister of Local
Government and Environmental Affairs (MEC
Bredell), Minister of Human Settlements (MEC
Madikizela) and Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism (MEC Winde)


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National Fact Finding Mission to understand extent of farm evictions in South Africa.
Department of Justice and SALGA to evaluate training provided to
magistrates and identify courts with unfair rulings.
Establish a task team within the Western Cape for data collection
and multi-sector engagement in the farm eviction situation.
Western Cape Provincial Department of Human Settlements to provide legal expertise to Drakenstein in a legal farm eviction case.