Unlawful occupants remain on municipal land next to the Centurion taxi rank despite the 30 days granted by the Pretoria High Court to vacate the property having expired.

Ward 78 Councillor Peter Sutton expressed frustration over the Tshwane Metro’s failure to execute the eviction.

The court granted a final eviction order on June 29, following an unopposed application brought by the metro. Occupants at the site were given 30 days to vacate the land, meaning the deadline expired at the end of July. However, almost a month after the deadline, they remain on the property.

The city had previously indicated that qualifying occupants would be provided with temporary accommodation as part of the relocation process following the eviction.

However, with the deadline having passed and the occupants still on site, the city has not provided an update on when the relocation will take place or when the eviction will be executed.

Sutton recently told Rekord that the continued occupation is a major frustration, particularly after years of efforts to resolve the matter.

According to him, the municipality indicated that there has been a delay in preparing the site where the occupants are expected to be relocated.

“However, no official meeting has been scheduled where I was involved to discuss the plan and the project timelines,” he said.

Sutton added that the metro has not provided him with a timeline for when the eviction would be carried out. He said he had only been told the city was preparing an eviction plan.

“I do not engage with the occupants directly, as the matter has reached a point where the city must now execute the eviction. I have not noticed, nor have I been informed of, any decrease in the number of people living on the site. I doubt that anyone has voluntarily vacated,” he said.

“The delay in having the occupants removed is frustrating, particularly as this matter has been ongoing for 10 years. Now that the order has been granted, the additional delays are really disappointing for me and residents in ward 78.”

He questioned why the city was not prepared to implement the order after taking the matter to court.

The final eviction order followed years of legal processes to address the unlawful occupation of the municipal land which forms part of the broader African Gateway Precinct development footprint. The site was previously identified by the metro as an area that would be secured by the project implementer once the eviction process had been finalised and the property lawfully vacated.

Sutton said clearing the land remained important to unlocking development in the area and improving the broader Centurion CBD.

Rekord reached out to the metro for comment regarding this matter but did not receive a comment by the time of publication.

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