Evictions worsen low-cost housing crisis

A string of forced evictions in Johannesburg's inner city has raised the ire of human rights groups, who claim the mass removals disregard international law and often increase marginalisation of the poor and vulnerable. In a strongly worded joint statement on Wednesday, the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and South Africa's Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) alleged that apartheid-era laws were used to carry out evictions, rather than appropriate legislation passed in accordance with the country's new constitution. "Since 2001, the city of Johannesburg has been carrying out supposedly urgent 'health and safety' evictions from so-called 'bad buildings', using the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act - which was passed under apartheid - to secure eviction orders. The city's policy of 'bad building' clearances is arbitrary, inhumane and in violation of international human rights law and South Africa's constitution," COHRE deputy director Jean du Plessis said. COHRE estimates that some 25,000 people in the inner city are at risk of losing their homes as the council pushes ahead with its urban renewal scheme. Johannesburg's central business district (CBD) is currently undergoing a major face-lift as part of a broader initiative to lure big business back into the city centre. In the past two decades, overcrowding, poor service delivery and a spike in crime levels have led to a flight of capital from the CBD. The rights groups said they had no objection to the government tackling substandard living conditions in poorly serviced buildings, but were concerned that 'bad buildings' were often cleared without meaningful consultation or providing alternatives to evictees. They pointed to the eviction on 14 July of more than 600 people, leaving them stranded after the building, Bree Chambers, was pronounced unsafe by the Johannesburg city council. The council insisted that negotiations with the residents had been going on for two years, and that their eviction was the result of a high court order arising out of serious bylaw contraventions. "The 16-storey building is an office block which has been invaded and illegally converted into residential accommodation," municipal spokesperson, Roopa Singh, told IRIN. "Many of the residents used chipboard to separate the offices; there were illegal electrical connections; the fire exits were blocked and there were pests all over the place. But we did let them know before hand that they would be evicted," she insisted, pointing out that arrangements had been made for the elderly and infirm. "We do have a social department that finds suitable accommodation for the old, and for those who really cannot find alternative accommodation," said Roopa. When IRIN visited the area on Wednesday, a chain-link fence cordoned off the gate to the front entrance. Street vendors said many of the residents had either moved to nearby informal settlements or other apartment blocks in the area. "We don't know where these people ended up - it is sad because it was very cold when they were told to leave. It is also very confusing, because some of them were paying good money to a caretaker, but when the time came for them to move, there was nobody to turn to for answers," a worker at a nearby convenience store commented. She described living conditions in the 16-story building as appalling, with several families forced to make do with cold water and a single toilet. A few metres down the road from Bree Chambers is the equally dilapidated three-storey Dorchester Mansions. Unlike Bree Chambers, the building is privately owned by what tenants complain is an absentee landlord. The poor maintenance of its exterior hints at the poor service residents can expect. The entrance hallway is flooded and electricity is erratic; the 66 rooms are overcrowded. Jabulani Nkosi, 21, a security guard, said he had no option but to live at Dorchester. "Nothing has changed in the three years I have been here, but what can I do? I moved from the townships to be closer to work and save some bus fare," he told IRIN. Although the living conditions were far from adequate, he had made the building his home. "So far we have not had any notice of eviction, and I hope we don't - I don't know what I will do if they evict us," he added. Many apartment blocks in downtown Johannesburg, like Dorchester Mansions, are home to thousands of residents who eke out a living in the informal economy as scrap collectors, hawkers and car guards earning less than US $150 per month. "They live in a 'bad building' simply because they cannot afford decent accommodation in the private residential housing market, or do not have access to any of the chronically oversubscribed social housing units in the inner city," said CALS director Cathi Albertyn. The backlog for decent low-cost housing in Johannesburg's inner city stands at around 18,000 households. In a letter to the Mayor of Johannesburg, COHRE and CALS urged the council to immediately halt the eviction of the urban poor, and carry out in-depth consultations with the occupants of 'bad buildings' and relevant civil society groups to address the dire need for lost-cost housing.