Property in a time of transition: An examination of perceptions, navigations and constructions of property relations among unlawful occupiers in Johannesburg’s inner city

One of the most enduring legacies of apartheid is the racialised in-access to property for the (black) majority of South Africans. The large unmet demand for accessible and affordable residential property close to work opportunities has resulted in widespread unlawful occupation of inner city buildings, which in the post-apartheid legal order has been shielded by a constitutional prohibition against arbitrary and unjust eviction. Yet, notwithstanding significant protection against eviction, in what remains a largely private property-dominated paradigm, unlawful occupation is an inherently disruptive act that pits ownership against the use/occupation of the same piece of property. Seeking to better understand the under-scrutinised social reality of such unlawful occupation of privately-owned property, we undertook qualitative research to examine how unlawful occupiers view, traverse and (re)define property-related arrangements. Coming from legal and built environment backgrounds respectively, we were particularly interested to understand the extent to which the legal limbo of unlawful occupation has given rise to a rejection of the hegemony of private property ownership and the construction of an alternative urban property rights consciousness among unlawful occupiers. Our research indicates that, although residents in Johannesburg’s inner city have found ways to deal with their state of unlawful occupation, the occupied spaces currently more accurately reflect a survivalist struggle in a mainstream property ownership-dominated reality than the assertion of a new urban property regime, with occupiers yearning for greater, rather than less, formality and legal authority.