An ‘important purpose of section 34 [of the Constitution] is to guarantee the protection of the judicial process to persons who have disputes that can be resolved by law’ and that the right of access to court is ‘foundational to the stability of an orderly society. It ensures the peaceful, regulated and institutionalised mechanisms to resolve disputes, without resorting to self-help. The right of access to court is a bulwark against vigilantism, and the chaos and anarchy which it causes. Construed in this context of the rule of law and the principle against self-help in particular, access to court is indeed of cardinal importance’.The right guaranteed s34 would be rendered meaningless if court orders could be ignored with impunity:the underlying purposes of the right — and particularly that of avoidance of self-help — would be undermined if litigants could decide which orders they wished to obey and which they wished to ignore.
The Abahlali baseMjondolo (Shack Dwellers) Movement website contains a picture (below) of the site where Joe Slovo residents will be moved if their appeal against the eviction order by Judge President John Hlophe is unsuccessful. The Court accepted that this accommodation was far better than the existing accommodation in Joe Slovo. Must say, it looks rather cosy….
Maybe there is a reason why the inhabitants of Joe Slovo (pictures below) would not want to me moved 15 km further away to a souless dump from town to a place not accessible by train and hence much more difficult and expensive to travel to and from.
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