BBC News | AFRICA | South Africa squatters win battle

By Greg Barrow in Johannesburg

The Constitutional Court in South Africa has passed judgement in a landmark case obliging the government to provide adequate housing for those living in deplorable conditions.

The case, which was fought on behalf of a group of squatters in Cape Town, challenged the government's constitutional obligation to alleviate the plight of the poorest and most disadvantaged communities.

The court ruled that the government's current housing policy is failing to provide reasonable shelter or relief to people who are desperately in need.

The ruling could lead to a total overhaul of the government's housing policy.

Eviction

The squatters sought legal assistance after they were evicted from land earmarked for a new housing development.

Their shacks were burnt down and most of their possessions destroyed.

In 1994 the government embarked on an ambitious national strategy to build millions of new homes, but it has fallen woefully short of its target

The government fought against their demands for adequate housing and the case went all the way to the constitutional court.

The court found that the government had failed in its constitutional obligation to provide basic shelter and sanitation for the poorest of the poor.

Practical terms

In 1994 the government embarked on an ambitious national strategy to build millions of new homes, but it has fallen woefully short of its target.

Lawyers say the government may now be forced to shift the focus of its housing policy.

The constitutional judgement appears to oblige the state to take immediate steps to alleviate the housing needs of those in the most desperate conditions.

It is unclear what this means in practical terms.

But it suggests the government might have to provide temporary sanitation and shelter to hundreds of thousands of people living in squatter settlements across the country.


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