Several years ago I attended a conference where a French academic delivered a paper on the etiquette of soliciting anonymous sex in public toilets in the South of France. I listened in amazement as the academic gave a rather erudite and learned presentation (relying on the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault), in which he [...]
Posts under ‘Housing’
Why the Rule of Law matters
A news report this morning sadly reminded me of the novel, The White Tiger, in which Arivind Adiga provides a cunning and often brutal depiction of India’s class struggles. The fortunes of the main character, Balram Halwai, a cynical, foul-mouthed, but witty narrator, rise after he murders his boss.
In the novel Balram, a chauffeur, recounts his transformation from [...]
The dark side of the Fifa World Cup?
When Adv Geoff Budlender stood up to argue the Grootboom case on behalf of the amicus curiae in front of the eleven judges of the Constitutional Court, they leaned forward in their seats, eager to fire sharp questions at the former Director General of Land Affairs.
By the time Budlender sat down, the judges looked subdued. [...]
Sanity and humanity prevails – for now
When the Constitutional Court granted an order in June, allowing the government to remove the residents of Joe Slovo outside the city of Cape Town to Delft 20 km away, some of us wondered quietly whether the government had not perhaps been as untruthful to the court as it had previously been untruthful to the residents of Joe Slovo.
The government [...]
On good governance and burning tyres
Why are South Africans in Tokoza, Diepsloot, Mashishing, Emalahleni, Simile and other townships across the country protesting “poor service delivery” by blockading roads with rocks and burning tyres and throwing stones at police? The government seems to be at a loss. It has commissioned a report on these “service delivery protests”, and has decided to [...]
Joe Slovo case: the good, the bad and the (mostly) unstated
The Constitutional Court judgment ordering the eviction of the more than 4000 families living in the Joe Slovo Settlement has been lauded by some because it partly reverses a High Court judgment of Judge President John Hlophe which would have left 20 000 people languishing in far off Delft with no prospect to return.
The five [...]
A (partial) victory for Joe Slovo residents
The Constitutional Court today granted an order for the eviction of Joe Slovo residents to far off Delft to facilitate the building of houses as part of the N2 Gateway Project. The fact that the court ordered the removal of people from their homes where they have lived for the past 15 years, will rightly [...]
What is going on with the Hlophe case?
I am really worried about the health of Judge President John Hlophe. He seems to have contracted the same virus many of the weaker students fall prey to just before a test or an exam. It must be really serious if he cannot even get on a plane and attend a hearing that will decide [...]
Irene Grootboom died, homeless, forgotten, no C-class Mercedes in sight
Irene Grootboom died last week, but we hardly noticed as we were all too busy obsessing about yet another court appearance of Mr. Jacob Zuma. She died homeless and penniless, not yet fifty years old, in the same week that robbers broke into the garage of ANC Youth League President Julius Malema’s upmarket home in [...]
No compassion for people who do not drive a Porsche?
One would think that it would have been hard for Judge President of the Cape, John Hlophe, to order the forced eviction of 20 000 poor, black people from the Joe Slovo informal settlement. After all, when he was in trouble for taking hundreds of thousands of Rand from the Oasis company and then lied [...]
