The City of Tshwane has secured a major legal victory after the High Court granted an eviction order against unlawful occupiers living on municipal land at the Centurion Taxi Rank, paving the way for the property’s redevelopment and the removal of informal structures.
MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, Cllr Flora Monama, said the court order requires the occupiers to vacate the property within 30 days.
“Failure to do so will result in the Sheriff of the Court, with the assistance of the South African Police Service, carrying out the eviction, safely recording identities, and demolishing the unauthorised structures,” Monama said.
The municipality described the ruling as a significant milestone in its efforts to reclaim public land that has been occupied unlawfully for several years.
According to the City, the land forms part of a strategic development project linked to the planned Tshwane International Convention Centre and other mixed-use commercial developments. The property is leased to a developer tasked with developing and operating the convention centre and associated infrastructure.
Despite the lease agreement, the site became the target of repeated land invasions. A multidisciplinary inspection conducted in 2024, followed by human settlements assessments in early 2025, found 131 informal structures on the property housing both internal migrants and foreign nationals.
The City said formal eviction notices were issued after the assessments, while court proceedings were launched in December 2025. Legal documents were subsequently served on respondents in February this year.
Municipal officials have also raised concerns about safety conditions at the settlement, alleging that informal recycling activities on the site have created serious public health and fire risks.
“The illegal settlement has posed significant public health risks and extreme fire hazards due to the extensive on-site storage of highly flammable waste material by informal recyclers,” Monama said.
The City believes reclaiming the land will unlock major economic opportunities for the area and boost investment in the Centurion CBD.
“Restoring this land to its lawful development objectives will stimulate substantial private investment, revitalise surrounding business confidence in the Centurion CBD, and, crucially, create thousands of sustainable, long-term job opportunities for residents in our local communities,” Monama said.
She warned that the municipality would continue pursuing legal action against unlawful land occupations across the capital.
“Let this serve as an unequivocal warning that the City of Tshwane will not tolerate the lawless hijacking of public land and/or the flagrant violation of our municipal by-laws,” she said.
Monama added that the court order forms part of a broader campaign by the City to protect municipal assets and enforce the rule of law.
“This decisive outcome is not an isolated event; it is a critical continuation of the successive court victories we are actively securing to dismantle criminality, protect public assets, and uncompromisingly restore law and order to our Capital City,” she said.
IOL News
