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The St Engenas ZCC church was compelled to seek alternative accommodation and groceries after its church leaders unlawfully evicted people from a building owned by the City of Johannesburg, demolished it and left the occupants destitute.
Consequently, the City of Johannesburg obtained a court order from the Johannesburg High Court this month rendering the decision by church leaders Lesetja Mothiba and Amos Tshabalala to displace more than five families from a municipal building in Alexandra last month as a violation of their constitutional rights.
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Judge Jabulani Dhlamini ruled on May 25 that the church should take full responsibility for the settlement of those displaced by the demolition of the house.
According to an affidavit by the City of Johannesburg's director of human settlements, Patrick Phophi, some of the families have been living in the building since 1972.
“The dispute involves a property in the form of a house in Alexandra, which belongs to the applicant, the City of Johannesburg. Historically, it belonged to the Alexandra City Council. The property was initially divided into two and was 154 and 156. The church and the evicted occupiers occupied different rooms and units thereof. These properties have since been merged into one property and it is not known as erf 998 extension 6 Alexandra, Gauteng Province. Both parties have the same rights over the respective units,” read the affidavit.
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The City of Johannesburg appointed a task team to deal with the proper allocation of houses within the building.
The papers read:
The papers list the names of families affected as people relying on the municipality for accommodation.
“When the property was demolished and as there was no prior notice, the evictees’ furniture were scattered and still on the streets of Alexandra. Their food was wasted and some rotten. There is also a video of the demolition,” read the papers.
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Phophi said that the process embarked on by the church leaders infringed on the constitutional rights of those who were evicted.
A request for comment was sent to the church, who are yet to reply.
