VAN DER WESTHUIZEN J
waiting for housing, patiently, according to legally prescribed procedures. But, as the
Supreme Court of Appeal found, queue jumping is not in issue in this case.89 The
Occupiers do not claim permanent housing, ahead of anyone else in a queue. They
have to wait in the queue or join it. What they ask is not to be excluded from the
City‘s provision of temporary housing, even though their situation is an emergency
under Chapter 12, simply because they are being evicted by a private landowner and
not by the City.
[94] This Court found that the occupiers in PE Municipality could not accurately be
defined as ―queue jumpers‖, as they were a homeless community that had been
evicted once and then found land to occupy with what they considered to be the
owner‘s permission where they had been residing for eight years. 90 They did not
deliberately invade land with an intention of disrupting the housing programme and
placing themselves at the front of the queue. Here, too, the Occupiers did not invade
the building.
[95] As a result, I find that whereas differentiation between emergency housing
needs and housing needs that do not constitute an emergency might well be
reasonable, the differentiation the City‘s policy makes is not. To the extent that
eviction may result in homelessness, it is of little relevance whether removal from
one‘s home is at the instance of the City or a private property owner. The policy
follows from the City‘s incorrect understanding of its obligations under Chapter 12
89
Above n 3 at para 55.
90
PE Municipality above n 12 at para 55.
44
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