Melgisedek illegal occupants stranded after courts block tent camp move

The illegal occupants of the Melgisedek building in Pretoria remain stranded in the bad building after two attempts to move them to a tent camp failed.

The residents of Capital Park can breathe a sigh of relief after an application to stop hundreds of occupants from the Melgisedek was heard in the Constitutional Court and the relocation process was halted.

Illegal occupants of Melgisedek building remain stranded

The Melgisedek building has long been synonymous with illegal occupants and drug dealing and was finally declared a bad building following a fire in February that saw a large portion of the roof burned beyond repair.

In March, the City of Tshwane announced plans to demolish it and relocate the approximately 400 occupants to nearby tent camps.

But this was stopped by an urgent court application brought by political parties and civil rights organisations.

Yesterday, people were seen going in and out of the building, while the tents started to disappear overnight.

Freedom Front Plus (FF+) Tshwane mayoral candidate Willie Spies said that because the organisation Lawyers for Human Rights filed its application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court last week, it automatically suspends the eviction order.

Spies said the FF Plus were monitoring the proceedings and also considering the possibility of joining the case as a friend of the court.

City didn’t have alternative accommodation

DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said the City of Tshwane didn’t have suitable alternative accommodation.

“First it wanted to place the people being evicted on the corner of Johann Heyns Drive and Nico Smith Street, a place that doesn’t have formal water and electricity access.

“We went to court to prevent that from happening, and the city insisted that the location was suitable,” he added.

Brink said the city, having realised the DA was right about that site, had decided to place the evictees at another unsuitable location – on a community sports ground in Capital Park.

“Again, the city didn’t do its homework.

“The DA wants the eviction to happen, but we don’t want a Melgisedek extension 2 and 3,” he added.

ConCourt halted relocation

Brink said the Constitutional Court must first decide whether to grant leave to appeal.

“If leave is refused, the eviction process can proceed.

“If it is granted, the matter could take considerably longer,” he added.

The City of Tshwane has yet to comment on the latest developments in the case.