Abstract
Local government occupies a unique place in the South African system of government. This is circumscribed by the Constitution which contains directives. enjoining municipalities inter alia to provide democratic and accountable government for local communities and to promote social and economic development (section 152) as well as to undertake developmentally-oriented planning (section 153). In addition local government has a specific role to play regarding access to adequate housing and, in that context, evictions.
 In terms of sections 25 and 26 of the Constitution as well as legislation enacted in terms of these provisions new and different procedures have been put in place to demarcate the role of municipalities in evictions. The interpretation, by the courts, of these legislative provisions, has created a framework within which municipalities must react to and deal with evictions. In terms of that framework a number of duties and responsibilities are placed on municipalities, which include that they do the following: have policies, actions and programmes in place, draw up proper housing plans, be notified of evictions, mediate and engage with all stakeholders and provide temporary - and suitable alternative - accommodation of a specific standard, all of which must be consistent with principles of human dignity and be reasonable.
 Against this background this paper will interrogate the role of local government in evictions, concentrating on the constitutional directives for municipalities, the different eviction procedures and the duties and responsibilities of municipalities.
Highlights
We have been walking on the road of restitution for 16 years, the journey started much earlier - officially on 19 June 1913.2 Within the broad landscape of land reform the restitutionary road follows a path different from the other land reform routes
Underlying the White Paper was the understanding that land reform was intrinsically linked with support programmes and that elements such as local participation in decision-making processes, gender equity, economic viability and environmental sustainability were of the utmost importance for its success
This was the first land reform measure to be promulgated under the new constitutional dispensation, embodying the formal and legal requirements, and it sets out the functions of the main role players
Summary
We have been walking on the road of restitution for 16 years, the journey started much earlier - officially on 19 June 1913.2 Within the broad landscape of land reform the restitutionary road follows a path different from the other land reform routes. The Land Claims Court fulfils various roles, inter alia separating persons who can join the journey from those who can’t,8 assisting the other role players, namely government and the Commission, to focus on the road and to keep everyone in line, so to speak, to provide guidelines and put up sign posts and to point the direction for claimants to reach their final destination.. Within this process conflicting discourses exist: on the one hand redress and restitution, and on the other economic development and sustainability It is within these discourses that the Court must find a way to be more involved in setting up signposts and acting, to some extent, as a GPS system mapping out the route to be followed. Before the particular role of the Land Claims Court in relation to good governance is addressed, it is important to contextualise the South African restitution programme and to put the unique character of restitution per se into perspective
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