Residents of Joe Slovo Community, Western Cape v Thubelisha Homes and Others

The applicants represented approximately 20 000 residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town. In 2009, the Constitutional Court granted a supervised eviction order under section 6 of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 (PIE), authorising relocation of residents to temporary residential units in Delft as part of the N2 Gateway Housing Project. The order imposed extensive conditions, including meaningful engagement, detailed standards for temporary accommodation, reporting duties, and allocation of 70% of new housing to Joe Slovo residents. After the order, government repeatedly failed to implement the relocation timetable, suspended the eviction, and shifted policy towards an in situ upgrading of the settlement. The applicants sought discharge (rescission) of the eviction order on the basis that the factual circumstances underpinning it had fundamentally changed.

The supervised eviction order granted on 10 June 2009 was discharged in its entirety. No eviction of the Joe Slovo residents could take place under that order.

This case confirms that the Constitutional Court may rescind or discharge its own orders, including eviction orders, when the circumstances that justified them have materially changed. It strengthens constitutional protection against arbitrary evictions and emphasises that eviction remedies must remain just, equitable, and grounded in current facts. The judgment also reinforces the centrality of meaningful engagement and flexibility in housing rights litigation under section 26 of the Constitution.