Katazile Mkangeli and Others v Joshua Johannes Joubert and Others

The appellants, 242 informal settlers, relocated from the Fedsure property to a semi-rural property known as Itsoseng with the express consent of the trustees who owned the land on behalf of a community trust. After the relocation, neighbouring landowners and representatives (the respondents), who were not the owners of Itsoseng, brought an urgent application in the Witwatersrand Local Division seeking the removal of the appellants and their informal dwellings. The application was based on alleged contraventions of town-planning schemes and nuisance caused by the settlement. The High Court ordered the trustees to demolish the structures and the appellants to vacate the land. The appellants appealed, contending that they were protected from eviction by the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 (ESTA) and that the High Court lacked jurisdiction.

The appeal was allowed with costs. The eviction orders against the appellants were set aside and substituted with an order dismissing the application against them. The costs orders of the court a quo were also amended.

This judgment authoritatively confirms that the protections of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act apply to eviction proceedings brought by non-owners as well as owners. It underscores the comprehensive nature of ESTA’s protection of occupiers, clarifies jurisdictional limits on High Courts, and reinforces the constitutional purpose of securing tenure for vulnerable occupiers under section 25 of the Constitution.