Case name:
Mohammed Yusuf Haffejee N.O. and Others v eThekwini Municipality and Others; Case No: CCT 110/10

Area of law:
The Expropriation Act

Brief facts/ summary:
The trustees of the Haffejee Family Trust challenged an eviction order granted by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, Durban, regarding the expropriation of the Trust’s property on the banks of the Umgeni River in Durban by the eThekwini Municipality.

In the Constitutional Court the Trust contended that provisions of the Expropriation Act were unconstitutional because they permit expropriation and dispossession of property before the amount of compensation and the time and manner of its payment are determined.  It argued that the determination is a constitutional prerequisite for expropriation under the property clause, section 25 of the Constitution. The provisions were thus found to be Constitutional. Appeal dismissed.

Importance of decision:
The Court found that section 25(2)(b) of the Constitution does not require that the amount of compensation and the time and manner of its payment be determined before expropriation, particularly in the case of urgent expropriation in the face of natural disasters. Determination of compensation before expropriation will generally be just and equitable, but in those cases where it must be determined after expropriation, it must be done as soon as is reasonably possible.

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