ALI MPHAKI
tenants who default on their rent payments at the Walter Sisulu Square flats in Kliptown will be evicted, and there’s little they can do about it.
Last week, five families were evicted from the flats by the Joburg Social Housing Company (Joshco), which administers the 478 units on behalf of the City of Joburg.
Yesterday, Joshco’s CEO, Rory Gallocher, told The Star that the matter was taken to court in 2009, where the residents’ application to stop the evictions was dismissed.
“All contracts signed between tenants and Joshco are lease contracts. At no point did Joshco enter into sale contracts,” said Gallocher.
“This matter was argued before the South Gauteng High Court before the honourable Judge (George) Farber, who on November 12, 2009 issued a judgment dismissing the complainants’ application.”
The judge ruled that counsel for the residents “was unable to identify any statutory or regulatory framework which place an obligation on the respondents (Joshco and the City of Joburg) to meet with them prior to the institution of ejectment proceedings…”
Since August 2009, a significant number of tenants have embarked on a rent boycott in protests against Joshco’s refusal to allow them to own the properties. Tenants say they agreed to move into the flats in 2006 on the understanding that, after four years of renting, they would be given title deeds to the properties.
They showed The Star their lease agreement, which, according to clause 7, stipulates that after four years of continuous rental, the properties shall be transferred to the beneficiaries.
A member of the tenants’ committee, Priscilla Davies, charges that Joshco duped them into signing the lease agreements when it knew that the properties would never be transferred to the people renting them. She said they had appealed the court’s decision.
Gallocher said about 33 percent of the residents were boycotting the payment of rent. The flats are one of Joshco’s major projects and, according to Gallocher, contribute to about 50 percent of the company’s bad debts.
Gallocher said the evictions were executed by the sheriff, acting on an order granted by the high court.
“For those who do not pay rental, we will apply to the high court to have them evicted. We will do so if the defaulter does not co-operate and sign an acknowledgement of debt to repay all arrears until they are liquidated. Those who pay can sleep easier at night, but that small number who do not want to pay will be evicted,” said Gallocher.