ILLEGAL DEMOLITION
Eastern Cape mayor jailed for failing to build homes for residents
A mayor in the Eastern Cape spent the weekend in prison after failing to provide court-sanctioned shelter to residents whose housing structures were unlawfully demolished by the Lusikisiki municipality in 2016. After almost two years of litigation, the New Rest community could not believe their eyes on Friday evening as Lusikisiki mayor Patrick Mdingi was arrested for being in contempt of a court order. The residents’ homes, where some of the estimated 150 people had lived for about 20 years, were demolished without the requisite court order the municipality had needed in terms of the Prevention of the Illegal Eviction (PIE) Act. Community members celebrated outside the correctional services centre in Lusikisiki on Friday after the mayor’s arrest. A warrant of arrest was also issued for municipal manager Mluleki Fihlani. Structures not erected Mdingi’s arrest is seen as precedent setting, and according to Mbali Baduza from Lawyers for Human Rights, showed that everyone was equal be...
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