My sister, who is my landlord, allowed our water bill to rack up to a huge amount. Can she legally evict us?

The long answer

There are two issues here: the municipal bill of almost R200,000 and whether your sister can just evict you.

Let’s start with the eviction question first: 

No one in South Africa can be evicted without a court order. This is because there is a law called the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, known as the PIE Act. While your sister can tell you that she wants you to leave by a certain date, she cannot actually evict you without a court order if you refuse to move out. 

The PIE Act lays down the steps that must be followed:

1. Your sister must tell you in writing that you should leave by a specific date, and that if you have not left by that date, she will be seeking a court order to evict you.

2. If you haven’t left by the date she laid down, your sister must apply to the court to have a written notice served on you, telling you that she is applying for an eviction order.

3. The court must serve this notice on you at least 14 days before the court hearing.

4. The notice must give the date and time of the court hearing and say what the grounds of the eviction application are. The notice must also inform you that you have the right to oppose the eviction in court and that you can apply for Legal Aid to assist you.

5. The court notice must also be served on the municipality so that they can tell the court if they have emergency housing that they can make available for you, if you are evicted. 

6. You must go to court on that day and tell the court your side of the story. Your sister will also have the right to tell her side of the story.

7. At the hearing, the court will listen to both sides and must take into account how the eviction will affect you all. The court must particularly consider the effect of an eviction on elderly people, children, people with disabilities and female-headed households.   

8. In the end, the court must decide whether an eviction would be just and fair in the circumstances. (The Constitutional Court has said that the PIE Act "expressly requires the court to infuse elements of grace and compassion into the formal structures of the law.") 

9. If an eviction order is granted, the court will give a date by which you must leave, and also the date that you will be evicted by the sheriff of the court if you don’t leave. The sheriff is the only person who is allowed to evict you.

Now let’s look at the question of the municipal bill:

I find it extraordinary that the municipality allowed the municipal bill to climb to almost R200,000. This does not seem either normal or acceptable. According to the Local Government Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, municipalities are required to collect all money that is due and payable, and to have a credit control and debt collection policy, which must be enforced. So clearly the municipality was not enforcing its credit control and debt collection policy, which it is legally required to do. 

You don’t say whether you were paying your sister for the electricity you were using. If you did not have a written agreement, but just an informal verbal agreement, that is still a legal agreement – it doesn’t have to be written down to be legal.  

Simon Dippenaar & Assosciates say that if a tenant wants a written agreement, the landlord is legally required to provide one.

As your sister is the landlord/owner of the property, she would be the one that the municipality would hold responsible for paying the municipal bill. The municipality has the right to cut off water and electricity if she hasn’t paid the bill, even if you were paying your sister for the electricity you used. Your sister does not have the right to disconnect water and electricity – only the municipality has that right.

Perhaps you could start by asking one (or all) of the following organisations for help: 

• The Black Sash, which gives free paralegal advice, 

• The Rental Housing Tribunal (RHT) which is a free, statutory body that resolves disputes between tenants and landlords through mediation or formal hearings. It can rule on unfair practices, such as illegal lockouts, with the same power as a Magistrate's Court.

• Legal Aid, which is a means-tested organisation that must assist people who can’t afford a lawyer. 

These are the contact details for the above organisations

• Legal Aid

Email: communications2@legal-aid.co.za

Tel: 0800 110 110 (Monday to Friday 7AM - 7PM) 

079 835 7179 (Please Call Me) 

• The Black Sash

Email: help@blacksash.org.za and 

info@blacksash.org.za

Tel (national office): 021 686 6952

Helpline: 072 66 33 73, 072 633 3739 or 063 610 1865.

• The Rental Housing Tribunal

For general enquiries: rht.enquiries@westerncape.gov.za

For dispute-related enquiries: rht.disputes@westerncape.gov.za

Call Centre tel: 0860 106 166

Wishing you the best,
Athalie