GOOD, BAD, UGLY? The case of a building in inner City Johannesburg
SUMMARY
Leap members Lauren Royston and Monty Narsoo are providing advice and technical assistance to CALS on the San Jose case. This support is wide ranging and includes the following initiatives:
• Advising in negotiations with the City of Johannesburg (COJ) and its lawyers.
• Assistance in the implementation of a Settlement Agreement between COJ and the residents. The main elements of this support are the relocation from San Jose to two temporary accommodation alternatives in Hilbrow and the development of suitable longer term accommodation options for the poor.
• Participation in a reference group driving a socio economic survey of the residents of San Jose and another building in Main Street in Johannesburg CBD. The survey is funded by the Social Housing Foundation and its aim is to inform the development of permanent accommodation options
The project balances tries to find an appropriate balance between research and action. Given the progress that is being made on relocation, Leap capacity is being primarily directed at action, as outlined in the preceding bullet points. The research objective of the project is to explore appropriate and affordable land tenure arrangements and formal housing options for the poor in the inner city of Johannesburg in the context of evictions and urban regeneration.
The place of the poor in Johannesburg inner city is heavily contested terrain. Access to land in the inner city offers a significant locational advantage due to proximity to social services and employment. On the other hand, the city’s inner city regeneration strategy prioritises attracting commercial investment and locating Johannesburg as a world class city, arguably to the detriment of the poor, who are faced with few suitable housing alternatives and impending eviction. Case studies selected from a typology of tenure forms will be compiled to highlight the problems with existing land tenure arrangements.
The research focuses so far on the city’s attempts to evict hits occupants (invoking the Building Standards and Building Regulations Act (NBRA) and the Health Act); and the successful appeal brought by the residents and the future - relating to interim measures to render the building more safe and habitable; temporary relocation of the residents; and permanent housing. In addition a more general set of issues is under consideration relating to the broader class of people living in derelict building sin the inner city and the constitutionality and applicability of legislation.
The research reflects on the category of buildings collectively referred to by officialdom as ‘bad buildings’ but which in reality accommodate people from a wide range of socio-economic contexts and with a wide variety of tenure arrangements and physical conditions. The case reflects the tension between the City’s constitutional and statutory obligations to have a housing plan for the poor and to apply human rights based legislation to prevent unfair evictions and its particular interpretation of ‘bad buildings’ and reliance on technocratic legal measures to evict people, such as the NBRA, the Health Act and Fire by-laws.
Project Details
NGO Partner:
Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), and the Inner City Resource Centre
Location:
Johannesburg Inner City
Funder:
Funded by CALS and Leap which are in turn funded by Ford Foundation for aspects of this project
Duration of project: