Eighty-six poor people unlawfully occupied dilapidated commercial premises at Saratoga Avenue, Berea, Johannesburg. Their occupation had initially been lawful and rent had been paid to various intermediaries until 2004. Blue Moonlight Properties purchased the property in 2004 with the intention to redevelop it and sought eviction under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE). The occupiers opposed eviction on the basis that they would be rendered homeless. The City of Johannesburg was joined because of its constitutional and statutory housing obligations. The High Court granted eviction, declared the City’s housing policy unconstitutional insofar as it excluded people evicted by private landowners, ordered the City to provide temporary accommodation or pay compensation, and issued a structural interdict. The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld eviction, set aside the structural interdict and compensation order, but still ordered the City to provide temporary emergency accommodation and declared its housing policy unconstitutional to the extent of exclusion. The City appealed to the Constitutional Court against the finding that it was obliged to provide accommodation.