Changing Tides 74 (Pty) Ltd v City of Johannesburg

Changing Tides 74 (Pty) Ltd, the owner of an inner-city building known as Chung Hua Mansions in Johannesburg, sought to evict unlawful occupiers from its property. In June 2012, Claassen J granted an eviction order coupled with a directive that the City of Johannesburg provide the occupiers with temporary emergency accommodation by 30 January 2013. The City failed to comply with this order for nearly three years, despite multiple enforcement orders, appeals, and contempt proceedings. As a result, the occupiers remained in the building until January 2016, preventing Changing Tides from renovating and renting the property as planned. Changing Tides instituted an action in delict against the City for pure economic loss arising from its failure to comply with the court order.

The City of Johannesburg was ordered to pay Changing Tides damages of R12,374,993.00 with mora interest at 11.75% per annum from date of summons to date of final payment, to pay costs on an attorney-and-own-client scale including the costs of two counsel, and to pay the qualifying fees and expenses of the plaintiff’s expert.

The case affirms that organs of state may be held delictually liable for pure economic loss caused by failure to comply with court orders, particularly where such failure infringes constitutional rights. It reinforces the supremacy of court orders, the rule of law, and clarifies that resource constraints do not excuse non-compliance with specific judicial directives relating to housing obligations.