Leaflet,+There+are+things+you+can+do+about+eviction



=There are things you can do about EVICTIONS=

FIRST you must know that it is not a criminal offence to ignore an order to leave your home, unless the order comes from a court. In fact, it is usually a criminal offence to make people leave their home without a court order.

SECOND, you should know that if you go to the court and oppose the order, you can win.

Even better, if you have nowhere else to go, and you get legal representation, you have a very good chance of winning.


 * How is this so?**

Research done in Johannesburg by an international organisation (COHRE) has exposed the illegality of the majority of evictions from so-called “bad buildings” in Johannesburg.

Although it is alleged that these “bad buildings” contain criminals, COHRE found that it was not so. On the other hand, COHRE found that the authorities were using a procedure that is against the provisions of our Constitution and against international laws that South Africa is supposed to support.

City Council Officials are ambushing people with building regulation orders (based on section 12 (4) B of the Building Standards and Building Regulations Act) that have no legal force, although they threaten that residents will be treated as criminals if they do not get out of their homes immediately. COHRE found that many people are made so afraid that they leave at once, becoming homeless.

If the people do not leave, the officials go to court, where many unopposed eviction orders are dished out daily. COHRE found that in cases where residents had a legal representative, the City Council almost never gets an eviction order. But in the cases where the residents had no representative (that is, in most cases) the eviction orders are granted, and the officials move in with force to throw the people out of their homes.


 * Lessons!**

Two things need to be kept in mind. Do not become so afraid of an order from an official that you run away from your home.

Do realise that the court will give you notice and that you have a chance of keeping your home if you go to court to oppose any eviction order. If you can get somebody to represent you in court, your chances of keeping your home are good.

=Who will represent you in court?=

There is an organisation called Public Interest Law Clearing House (contact, Odette Geldenhuys) that can help you to find a legal representative who will act “pro bono publico” (for the benefit of the people).

The Law Clearing House **Phone** number is: **011 339 4054** =You can also try the Legal Resources Centre on: 011 836 9831= =What you should do now is: Organise!=

If you fear eviction and want to protect yourself, form a protection association. Just use it to spread the information of how people can defend themselves against eviction by knowledge and by getting legal representation. Share the knowledge with others, and enjoy their solidarity, but don’t expect the protection association to solve your other problems, like maintenance, rates, and so forth. Keep this one for eviction emergencies only.

=Who can help form such an association?= Don’t ask for “sponsorship”. You are not likely to get it and it will be a problem for you if you do. Rather ask for help to form your own organisation, if you don’t already know how to do it. The following are some ideas as to where you might go to get help forming and association:


 * Your Local SACP Branch || Telephone: || **011 882 0752** ||
 * (Johannesburg Central) || Email: || dominic.tweedie@gmail.com ||
 * The Young Communist League (YCL) || Telephone: || **083 741 3772** ||
 * || Email: || mbkekana@gmail.com ||
 * CALS (for help with research) || Telephone: || **011 717 8600** ||
 * || Fax: || **011 403 2341** ||
 * || Email: || wilsons@law.wits.ac.za ||
 * //You can also ask:// || ||  ||
 * Your Local Church || ||  ||
 * The Black Sash || ||  ||
 * Social Movements || ||  ||
 * Your Local Church || ||  ||
 * The Black Sash || ||  ||
 * Social Movements || ||  ||