26 June 2025
Senior officials of Drakenstein Municipality in the Western Cape today continued the Municipality’s engagement with the non-governmental organisation, Women on Farms, at a dialogue workshop in Simondium to discuss issues in relation to farm evictions and providing dignified emergency housing for evicted farmworkers.
“Drakenstein Municipality does not support farmworker evictions, nor does it evict farmworkers. The Municipality, as far as possible, intervenes and assists in negotiations to avoid farmworker evictions,” says David Delaney, Acting Executive Director: Community Services of Drakenstein Municipality.
Councillors and officials regularly meet with farm owners in the Drakenstein area, as well as engage with the relevant parties and the different departments within the three spheres of government.
“It is in Drakenstein Municipality’s interest to avoid farm evictions due to the cost implications for the Municipality and pressures on its housing sites; however, the Municipality has always taken its responsibility to provide emergency housing seriously and has always provided emergency accommodation when required. The standard of emergency housing in Drakenstein has also historically been above the minimum specifications in the guidelines provided by National Government,” says Delaney.
The legal process
Drakenstein Municipality’s role in farm evictions is to provide evictees with alternative emergency accommodation, should the Municipality be instructed to do so by a court of law as part of a ruling in an eviction case brought by the landowner in terms of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA).
When an applicant (landowner) approaches the courts to apply for an eviction, the Municipality normally receives a notice in terms the ESTA of the applicant’s intent to go to court. This notice is also served on the respondent(s) (the possible evictees), as well the national Department of Rural Development, which takes the lead in ESTA matters.
The respondent(s) are given 60 days to vacate the farm or the area voluntarily; if this does not happen, the formal court process starts. Normally, before judgement is delivered the judge requests the parties to have a meaningful engagement session. The purpose of such a session is to ascertain whether an agreement can be reached; to determine the socio-economic profile of the respondent(s); and to find out from the Municipality if it has alternative emergency accommodation available. After such a session the Municipality submits a report to the court to inform the court of the Municipality’s position.
Should the court decide for an eviction to go ahead, the Municipality could be instructed to provide alternative emergency accommodation for the evictee(s). This alternative emergency accommodation is normally a 24-square metre temporary structure and access to basic communal services.
Drakenstein Municipality facilitates access to emergency housing for farm evictees in terms of the Allocation of the Drakenstein Municipality Temporary Housing Policy.
The identification, planning and preparation of emergency sites form part of Drakenstein Municipality’s overall human settlement planning.
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Issued by: Communication and Marketing, Drakenstein Municipality
