ASSIGNMENT

PUBLIC LAW LPUB3724, 2022

Instructions for this assignment:

• Type your assignment in Arial, font size 12. Footnotes must be in Arial, font size 10. No other
font type and size will be accepted. Use 1.5 line spacing and justify all paragraphs. Insert page
numbers.
• Use the reference style of the Journal for Juridical Science. You are reminded of the UFS
policy dealing with plagiarism and academic writing misconduct.
• Only use JUTA or LEXISNEXIS citations for case law.
• Include a list of case law and legislation in the Bibliography.
• Submit your assignment in one document in the dropbox provided on the Blackboard module
for LPUB3724. DO NOT SUBMIT THE DECLARATION OF OWN WORK WITH THE
ASSIGNMENT. You will be asked to confirm that it is your own work before you proceed to
the dropbox.
• Assignments must be submitted before or on Monday, 22 August 2022 at 17:00. If you
submit your assignment late, please take note of the penalties as indicated in the LLB
Assessment Policy for Students (2021), para 4(d).
• Ensure that you allow for adequate time to submit the assignment. Should you experience
any problems, please contact the e-helpdesk, and please copy your lecturer on the email.
Do not contact only the lecturer if you experience problems with the submission – only the e-
helpdesk.
• A rubric will be provided for the assessment of the assignment. Use this to guide your
preparation and research.
• You must refer to case law and other academic sources in your answers. Refer to at least
three applicable cases and three academic sources. This is the minimum, but you will
be assessed on the comprehensiveness of your research. See the instruction at the end
of the assignment.
• Your answers must be between 750 and 950 words in total (3-4 typed pages, calculated on
an average of 250-300 words on a page). This excludes the title page, table of contents and
bibliography. If you exceed the prescribed number of words within reasonable limits, you may
not be penalised. However, substantially exceeding the specified limit will lead to penalisation.
• If you do not follow the instructions for the assignment, you may be penalised.

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• If you so choose, you may work in a group to complete the assignment. If you decide to work
in a group, there may be no more than three members in a group. All group members’
particulars must clearly be indicated on the front page of the assignment. PLEASE NOTE:
NO AMENDMENTS TO GROUP MEMBERS WILL BE MADE AFTER SUBMISSION. If you
do not check with your group before submission, you will receive ZERO (0).

SET OF FACTS

On 20 July 2018, a fire swept through Gugulethu, a township near Cape Town, burning down 100
informal homes. Over 500 persons are left homeless and without shelter. Heavy winter rains
compounded the situation. Makeshift shelters are erected along the road, and some families with
children are accommodated in community halls. In consultation with the Premier of the Western
Cape and the Minister of Housing, the Mayor of Cape Town convenes an Emergency Task Team
(“ETT”). The ETT consists of senior administrators of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan
Municipality and representatives of both the provincial and national departments of housing. The
ETT is requested to handle the situation as a matter of extreme urgency. At a meeting held on 22
July 2018, the ETT decided to accommodate all the affected persons in one location. The rationale
for this decision is to facilitate the speedy construction of temporary structures for the victims of
the fire and the distribution of food and clothing.
The municipality considered two properties in the vicinity: the first piece of land is the Rondebosch
Common; the second is a plot of land on the Driftsands Nature Reserve. The plots were identified
as potential locations by the municipality owing to their proximity to Gugulethu; both properties
are approximately 10km from Gugulethu and belong to the City of Cape Town. The ETT decided
on the Rondebosch Common because it is closer to the city. The ETT signed a lease agreement
with the Cape Metro on 23 July 2018 for the residential use of the land. On 25 July 2018, the
residents were relocated to the Common, where the municipality has erected temporary shelters.
A number of interested parties contact the municipality shortly afterwards. Property owners and
schools neighbouring the plot lodge a complaint about “illegal squatting” on the plot. The Friends
of Rondebosch Common (FRC), a non-profit organisation, points out that the Common is one of
a few spots where Cape Flats Sand Fynbos grows, a plant species that is critically endangered;
the Common is a seasonal wetland and contains patches of Renosterveld; and there are more
than 300 plant species growing on the Common, of which nine species are on the Red Data List.
The Rondebosch Common is a popular destination for local residents to walk their dogs, jog, and
bird-watch, amongst other recreational activities. It is a valuable community resource; access is
free and open to everyone. The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) also makes
a submission, alerting the City to the fact that the Rondebosch Common is a provincial heritage
site.
In response to these complaints, the ETT holds a press conference in a school hall nearby to
inform the public of the transit camp, where people will be housed until their homes have been
reconstructed.

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The following provisions are relevant:
Legislation
City of Cape Town Municipal Planning By-Law, 2015
68. Emergency housing
(1) In this section “emergency housing” means temporary housing required for households whose
homes are uninhabitable as a result of a disaster situation caused by rain, flood, wind, fire,
earthquake, accident or other circumstance sufficient in nature and scale to result in widespread
homelessness and where the damage or threat to the homes cannot be rectified without
temporary relocation and the households cannot be rehoused on site during the rectification.
(2) If the City identifies a need for the establishment of emergency housing on land which is not
zoned for the purpose, the City may approve the commencement of a process to declare the land
to be an emergency housing site.
(3) The City may approve the commencement of a process to declare the land to be an emergency
housing site only if it is satisfied that basic water and sanitation services can be provided to the
site and with the consent of owner of the land if the City is not the owner of the land.
(4) The City must advertise its intention to establish an emergency housing site.
(5) The notice must contain at least the following information-
(a) a description of the land and the physical address of the land;
(b) the reason for declaring the land to be an emergency housing site;
(c) that the City intends to suspend the zoning applicable to the land for a period of 90 days to
allow the land to be used for emergency housing, which would otherwise be in contravention of
the development management scheme;
(d) details of where and when particulars of the matter are available for inspection;
(e) an invitation to members of the public to lodge with the City written comment or objection with
reasons;
(f) details of the procedure for that person to submit written comment and the date by when it
must be lodged (which may be no less than 10 days after the publication of the notice);
(g) a statement that no late comment or objection will be considered; and
(h) a statement that any person who cannot write may come during office hours to a stated place
where an authorised official will assist that person by transcribing that person’s comment or
objection and reasons.
(6) After considering any timeous comments, the City may declare the land to be an emergency
housing site and suspend the zoning applicable to the land for a period of up to 90 days to allow
the land to be used for emergency housing.
(7) A declaration contemplated in subsection (7) –
(a) must be published by the City in the Provincial Gazette within 48 hours;

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 (b) means that the use of the land for emergency housing will be regarded as consistent
with this By-Law; and
(c) does not exempt a person using land for emergency housing from their duty to comply
with all other applicable law.

National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999

27. National heritage sites and provincial heritage sites.
[…]
(18) No person may destroy, damage, deface, excavate, alter, remove from its original position,
subdivide or change the planning status of any heritage site without a permit issued by the
heritage resources authority responsible for the protection of such site.
[…]

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

24. Environment

Everyone has the right –

(a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and
(b) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations,
through reasonable legislative and other measures that -
(i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
(ii) promote conservation; and
(iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while
promoting justifiable economic and social development.

26. Housing

(1) Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing.

(2) The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available
resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right.

QUESTIONS

1. List all the decisions taken in the set of facts. (10 per cent)
2 Is the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 applicable to the decision to
transfer the residents of Gugulethu to a transit camp? Do a thorough analysis and substantiate
your argument. (90 per cent).

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COMPULSORY READING:

Konstant A
2015. “Administrative action, the principle of legality and deference – The case of Minister of
Defence and Military Veterans v Motau” Constitutional Court Review 7:68-90.
Williams RC
2011. “The concept of a ‘decision’ as the threshold requirement for judicial review in terms of the
Promotion of Administrative Justice Act” PER 14(5):229-240.
Wolf L
2017. “In search of a definition for administrative action” SAJHR 33(2):314-334.
Wolf L
2018. “Implications of the ‘direct, external legal effect’ of administrative action for its purported
validity” SALJ 135(4):678-707.
Hoexter C
2012. Administrative law in South Africa. Claremont: Juta.

Requirements:
a) Refer to a minimum of three applicable cases. You must refer to at least three sources
listed under compulsory reading material.
b) Your answer must be between 750 and 950 words, excluding the bibliography and table of
contents.
c) Use the rubric for the assignment to guide your preparation.