Johannesburg Central Magistrate’s Court Civil Section

Practice Guidelines: Eviction in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998

Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court Civil Section

1. The application for eviction must be a separate application. The procedure to be adopted (except in urgent applications) is as follows:
   1.1 The notice of motion must follow Form 2(a).
   1.2 The notice of motion must allow not less than five days from date of service of the application for delivery of a notice of intention to oppose.
   1.3 The notice of motion must give a date when the application will be heard in the absence of a notice of intention to oppose. All applications for evictions are to be set down for Court 25 and no other court.*  
2. After the eviction application has been served and no notice of intention to oppose has been delivered, or if a notice of intention to oppose has been delivered at a stage when a date for the hearing of the application has been determined, the applicant may bring an ex parte interlocutory application authorising a section 4(2) notice and for directions on service.
3. When determining a date for the hearing of an eviction application, sufficient time must be allowed for bringing the ex parte application, for serving the section 4(2) notice and for the 14-day notice period to expire. The date for hearing must be arranged with the clerk of the court trial dates Room 1060.
4. If the eviction application is postponed in open court on a day of which notice in terms of section 4(2) was duly given, and if the postponement is to a specific date, it will not be necessary to serve another section 4(2) notice in respect of the latter date.
5. The local, provincial or national authorities that might be affected by an eviction order must be clearly identified.
6. The Order authorising the notice and directing service of the notice should be substantially conform to Form G.
7. These practice guidelines comes into operation as from 5 August 2011.

*See practice guidelines of the trial roll for the practice guidelines in respect of the roll court 25.

Dated: 10 August 2011
Amended: 05 May 2016