Masters Degrees (Private Law)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Private Law) by Author "Louw, Jacobus Francois"

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    The right to adequate housing : making sense of eviction procedures in the context of rental housing after Ndlovu V Ngcobo
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2004-12) Louw, Jacobus Francois; Mostert, H.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Law. Dept. of
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa must address the need for adequate housing. Since democracy in 1994, the government has promulgated a number of acts to achieve the goal of adequate housing for all. These include the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE) and the Rental Housing Act (RHA). The problem for the courts is knowing when to apply each act. To reach the goal embodied in the constitutional right of adequate housing for all, the government has invested R18 billion in housing since 1994. Despite this, the need for housing has escalated. The RHA, in which the legislature tried to create a balance between the rights of landlords and tenants, followed. This was done in order to alleviate some of the pressure to ensure access to land, which rests solely on the shoulders of the government. The legislature tried to create a sphere into which private investors would want to invest their money. A number of recent cases dealing with tenants who defaulted on their rentals and the landlord's capacity to effect eviction raised awareness about the existing inadequacies of the law in this particular field. In a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling, the court found that when a landlord wants to evict a defaulting tenant the time-consuming and costly procedure of PIE should be used. The assumption underlying this study is that PIE should not be applicable in cases of evicting a defaulting tenant. The rights and duties of the various parties involved in rental housing therefore need to be examined. The main aim is, however, to ascertain which procedure should be employed when obtaining an eviction order against a party holding over and what the effects are when the most appropriate eviction procedure is not used. A well-regulated relationship would ensure the best balance of interest for the landlord, tenant and the government by creating a market in which a landlord could make money out of letting and more tenants could obtain adequate housing through renting. A further assumption is that the rei vindicatio should be used when having a defaulting tenant evicted. It offers an alternative procedure that does not undermine the objectives of the housing legislation.