The Law Is An Ass

Dean accompanied Michael & Joyce to court this morning for the final eviction hearing. You may recall that Michael & Joyce are living with Michael's father (Douglas) who wants them to leave the house, primarily because he's an alcoholic and they've been trying to address this issue with him. As expected, the court made it's decision based purely on the law thus ignoring the moral arguments for Michael & Joyce remaining in the house.

Dean was quite angry afterwards as he feels that Michael & Joyce were steamrollered by Douglas's lawyer as they had no legal representation themselves (legal aid was refused and they can't afford legal fees) into signing a settlement document. This then allowed the lawyer to make direct representations to the chief magistrate in his chamber rather than having to go into court.

Also, the ANC arrived after the deed had been done and made no attempt to hide their satisfaction with the result. The lead member of the ANC was particularly smug and when Dean pointed out that Douglas would now be a very vulnerable man within the community due to his drinking she suggested that the community would have to take responsibility for him. This was a red rag to a bull and Dean told her in no uncertain terms that the community is already poor and does not need to be burdened further with having to care for a drunken old man who won't listen to sense or reason. Douglas receives enough pension each month to live on but he chooses to drink it away in one day and spends the rest of the month living on handouts and scrounging. When things calmed down Dean was able to explain to the ANC that whilst legally the issue was clear cut, morally the issue was far more complex with Douglas needing some form of supervision to ensure his health and well being (exactly what Michael & Joyce provided him with!), Dean feels the ANC should be responsible and take up the duty of care for Douglas but Dean & the ANC had to agree to disagree.

The upshot of this is that Michael & Joyce have until the 31st of March to move out of the house. We are now trying desperately to make some appropriate accommodation arrangements for Michael & Joyce. Dean will approach a local pastor on Monday (whom Dean and Michael visited on Wed) to see if his village next door to CNP has any accommodation for rent. Michael is wanting to investigate the possible purchase of a 'Wendy House' which is a very large garden shed (3m X 9m) which he could live in in CNP. This option would cost around R4000 (£400) and if you feel you would like to help with this, please email us or leave a comment on this post.

Please pray that Michael & Joyce will have somewhere permanent to live before they have to move out on the 31st.