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LAND INVASION: DRAFT ILLEGAL EVICTION, UNLAWFUL OCCUPATION AMENDMENT BILL GAZETTED FOR COMMENT
- 16 April 2026
- Housing
- SA Legal Academy
The Department of Human Settlements has called for input by 15 June 2026 on a draft Prevention of Illegal Eviction from & Unlawful Occupation of Land Amendment Bill intended to ‘empower municipalities, state entities and private property owners’ to ‘more decisively’ deal with the complexities of land and building invasions.
This is according to Human Settlements Minister Thembisile Simelane, whose media statement on the draft Bill also notes provisions seeking to:
- more effectively address the challenge of orchestrated illegal land occupation by targeting the ‘individuals and organised groups … responsible’
- curb the unlawful sale of land or property by criminal elements to whom it does not belong
- ensure the availability of alternative temporary accommodation where appropriate
- in the case of municipal land, introduce a mandatory mediation process, and
- streamline the often ‘lengthy and expensive’ court process.
This is noting the importance of this respecting the ‘rights and needs of vulnerable individuals’ and ensuring that they are ‘treated with fairness and dignity’ during the lawful eviction process.
With that in mind – according to a media statement on the two Cabinet meetings at which the draft Bill was considered – ‘notwithstanding the intentions or circumstances of persons engaged in unlawful occupation’, the amendments proposed also seek to ‘address ambiguities’ in the principal statute regarding the requirements to be met when lawfully evicting the illegal occupants of land or buildings.
The proposed new piece of legislation should not be confused with a Bill of the same name tabled in Parliament by Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Emma Powell in March 2023. Its contents may nevertheless have been informed to some extent by certain provisions in Powell’s Bill – as SA Legal Academy has already reported.
- draft Bill
- ministerial media statement
- Cabinet media statement
- February 2026 SA Legal Academy report on DA Bill
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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