PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
ILLEGAL OCCUPATION
15 JUNE 2011
1
OBJECTIVE
To Provide the Portfolio Committee with
information on the status and processes
involved in illegal occupation
2
MANDATE
• Unlawful occupation is dealt with in terms of the
Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation
of Land Act, Act 19 of 1998;
• What is unlawful occupation: Means “a person who
occupies land without the express or tacit consent of the
owner or person in charge, or without any in law to
occupy such land”
• Prevalence:
– New informal settlements
– Newly constructed but unallocated houses
3
Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful
Occupation of Land Act, Act 19 of 1998;
• No person may occupy land without the consent
of the owner;
• If so guilty of offence and is liable to a fine or
imprisonment not exceeding two years;
• Act prescribed certain procedures;
• 14 days before hearings court must serve
written notice of proceedings – must be
adequate notice and allow the unlawful occupier
to defend case
4
Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful
Occupation of Land Act, Act 19 of 1998;
• Notice must indicate date and time of court
case, grounds for eviction;
• If land is occupied less than six months, court
may grant order of eviction if satisfied that it is
just and equitable to do so;
• If land is occupied more than six months land
must be made available by municipality or other
organ of state for relocation of unlawful
occupiers
5
Municipal procedures
• After becoming aware of illegal occupation, visited area
with Metro Police;
• Both Council and private land need to obtain eviction
order within 48 hours;
• If not then Council has to provide illegal occupiers with
basic services as determined by Extension of Security of
Tenure Act;
• If private land and landlord fails to secure eviction order,
then Council can also be expected to provide basic
services as determined by court in the “Grootboom”
case, Cape Town;
6
BENEFICIARY ADMINISTRATION
• Responsibility: Local Government:
• Determine:
– Number of informal settlements;
– Size of backyard dwellers;
– Housing needs in area
• Compile waiting list
• Package projects in IDP for possible funding from
various sources, for example:
– Housing needs : Dept of Human Settlements
– Social grant needs: Dept of Social Development
• Human Settlements projects and funding approved by
MEC based on LG proposals
7
BENEFICIARY OCCUPANCY AUDIT
• Beneficiary Occupancy Audit done in 2009/10
financial year on 262 686 households in seven
Provinces;
• Findings in various Provinces as follows:
8
MAJOR FINDINGS
• Free State
ITEM PERCENTAGE NUMBER
Legal Occupant 30 4 470
Renting 2.2 328
Purchase 2.0 298
Registered title 23.2 3 427
deed
Valid ID 99.8 14 780
Habitable (none or 79.0 11 385
minor defects)
Not Habitable (major 19.3 2 876
defects)
9
MAJOR FINDINGS
• North West
ITEM PERCENTAGE NUMBER
Legal Occupant 26 11 660
Renting 4.2 763
Purchase 3.0 545
Registered title 30.8 10 904
deed
Valid ID 99.5 15 679
Habitable (none or 78.1 17 821
minor defects)
Not Habitable (major 19.5 3 543
defects)
10
MAJOR FINDINGS
• Mpumalanga
ITEM PERCENTAGE NUMBER
Legal Occupant 19 4 633
Renting 5.4 1 029
Purchase 2.6 496
Registered title 22.3 3 321
deed
Valid ID 99.5 14 820
Habitable (none or 68.0 10 278
minor defects)
Not Habitable (major 21.8 3 246
defects)
11
MAJOR FINDINGS
• Gauteng
ITEM PERCENTAGE NUMBER
Legal Occupant 30.8 16 056
Renting 2.0 1 127
Purchase 1.6 808
Registered title 52.2 27 201
deed
Valid ID 97.5 50 808
Habitable (none or 89.2 46 516
minor defects)
Not Habitable (major 1.7 865
defects)
12
MAJOR FINDINGS
• Western Cape
ITEM PERCENTAGE NUMBER
Legal Occupant 31.1 7 174
Renting 4.4 1 932
Purchase 3.2 1 408
Registered title 54.3 12 525
deed
Valid ID 98.8 22 790
Habitable (none or 97.8 23 016
minor defects)
Not Habitable (major 0.2 46
defects)
13
MAJOR FINDINGS
• KwaZulu-Natal
ITEM PERCENTAGE NUMBER
Legal Occupant 52.5 13 893
Renting 2.4 15 815
Purchase 2.1 563
Registered title 33.9 8 970
deed
Valid ID 99.2 26 260
Habitable (none or 97.1 25 718
minor defects)
Not Habitable (major 1.1 295
defects)
14
MAJOR FINDINGS
• Limpopo
ITEM PERCENTAGE NUMBER
Legal Occupant 55.8 12 373
Care Taker 10.5 2 345
Occupant
Dependant 7.1 1 585
Second Owner 11.9 2 629
Unoccupied 2.9 643
Not built 8.4 1 862
Habitable (none or 82.9 18 369
minor defects)
Not Habitable (major 17.1 3 801
defects)
15
COMPARISON OF PROVINCES
ITEM FS NW MP GT WC KZN LP
Legal 30.0 26.0 19.0 30.8 31.1 52.5 55.8
Occupant
Renting 2.2 4.2 5.4 2.0 4.4 2.4 0
Purchase 3.0 3.0 2.6 1.6 3.2 2.1 0.0045
Registered 23.2 30.8 22.3 52.2 54.3 33.9 N/A
title deed
Valid ID 99.8 99.5 99.5 97.5 98.8 99.2 97.1
Habitable 79.0 78.1 68.0 89.2 97.8 97.1 82.9
Not 19.3 19.5 21.8 1.7 0.2 1.1 17.1
Habitable
16
THANK YOU
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