Residents of Airport Park Phase 2 were left displaced after the City of Ekurhuleni carried out a court-ordered eviction on January 19.

The action affected families living in 275 municipal rental units and was executed by the Sheriff of the Court following a judgment by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg.

The ruling, granted in favour of the Ekurhuleni Housing Company (EHC), came after an application for reconsideration was dismissed.

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According to the City of Ekurhuleni, the court confirmed that the occupation of the affected units was unlawful under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, 1998 (PIE Act).

Many residents are now facing uncertainty over alternative housing and their immediate future.

Community leader Thembi Ramuchuene said residents had filed an interdict with the court and were still awaiting the outcome at the time of the eviction.

She said the main issue was that lease terms had changed without engagement with residents, which she called unfair.
“We were promised that after a few years, we would own these apartments. Instead, we are being evicted one by one, starting with Pharaoh Park residents last year,” Ramuchuene said.

Another resident criticised the municipality for acting cruelly.

“We do not deny that we received eviction letters on the 15th, but we submitted an appeal. At the scene, we asked the sheriff to provide the court eviction papers, but none were shown. Instead, they only had a list of rooms that were to be evicted.”

Residents have condemned the City of Ekurhuleni’s actions, refusing to acknowledge the court’s ruling on their interdict application.

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Law enforcement officers were present as residents unpacked their belongings and tried to salvage what remained of their furniture and clothing.

“They are just throwing our families onto the streets. Our children go to school, and when they finish, they will return to find we have no home,” one resident said.

The dispute has roots in long-standing promises made by the City, which assured residents that they would eventually own the apartments, a promise previously made to residents of Pharaoh Park and Delville. The City has previously denied this promise.

Under the court order, unlawful occupiers were directed to vacate the properties on or before January 15. In the event of non-compliance, the Sheriff of the Court, assisted by the SAPS and the EMPD, was authorised to carry out the eviction. Certain households were explicitly excluded from the eviction.

Phakamile Mbengashe, head of the city’s Department for Communications, Marketing and Tourism, said, “The matter relates to the long-standing unlawful occupation of housing units at Airport Park Phase 2. The properties form part of a housing development owned by the EHC and were occupied without lawful allocation.”

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“The CoE has been cited in these proceedings in its capacity as the local authority. The city cooperated with the Sheriff of the Court and other relevant authorities to ensure that the process unfolded in a lawful, orderly, and peaceful manner, in accordance with the Court’s ruling.”

Busi Baloyi from the office of the CEO of EHC added that residents owed R76m.

“The sheriff informed all evicted occupants where their belongings would be taken, to a guarded area within five kilometres. The court order did not require the City to provide alternative accommodation, as Airport Park was occupied by residents who were employed and able to secure housing independently,” Baloyi said.