Tribunal partners with stakeholders to enhance service delivery

Tribunal partners with stakeholders to enhance service delivery to tenants and landlords

In 2023, the Department of Infrastructure’s Rental Housing Tribunal (RHT) partnered with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the West Coast, Overberg, Cape Winelands, Central Karoo and Garden Route districts to reduce the incidence of unlawful occupations of land and unlawful evictions.

“We started engaging with SAPS in 2019, and the relationship drastically improved when we got the green light from the Western Cape Provincial Police Commissioner and the Ministry of Community Safety and Police Oversight in the Western Cape,” says RHT’s Sithembele Tyutula.

The Provincial Commissioner of Police issued a directive for SAPS to work with RHT as per National Instruction 7 of 2017, the Unlawful Occupation of Land and Evictions. The police must assist the Tribunal by carrying out RHT rulings, which are legally considered to be orders of the Magistrate’s Court.

“Empowered (SAPS) frontline officers avert unlawful actions including illegal evictions or lockouts without a court order/ disconnection of water and electricity without a court order/ unlawful seizure of tenant’s possessions in lieu of arrear rental, and assist RHT to serve subpoenas in Red Zone areas,” says Tyutula.

“If the landlord does not want to adhere to the terms of an RHT ruling, SAPS refers the tenant to the RHT to lodge a complaint which will be dealt with urgently.”

Having gained momentum in 2022, RHT’s Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) seeks to prioritise the frequency of engagements with stakeholders taking into account their role and importance in the rental ecosystem. It also aims to identify synergies and areas of common interest with stakeholders, agree on areas of collaboration, and raise awareness of changes to legislation.

Law enforcement agencies including SAPS, Metro Police, sheriffs of the courts, legal practitioners, and the Legal Resources Centre were identified as key partners in the SEP.

The RHT was established in 2000 and is one of the oldest tribunals in the country. It assisted 35 000 tenants and landlords between 2000 and 2020, and has steadily reduced the pre-COVID backlog of 2 000 cases.