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Unlawful Entry on Premises Bill: Not a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
UNLAWFUL ENTRY ON PREMISES BILL
NOT A WOLF IN SHEEP’s CLOTHING
by Jaco Swart
Dear NEASA subscriber
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, on 12 August 2022, published the Unlawful Entry on Premises Bill, 2022 (‘the Bill’) for public comment.
Since its publication, a number of social media videos and reports have been doing the rounds, setting out the alleged wickedness of the proposed legislation.
Some of these reports claim that the proposed legislation now permits any person to enter your home unlawfully, in order to rob or assault or commit any other heinous crime, and the only remedy for the homeowner is to request the trespasser to leave and if he refuses, to call the police. The right to self-defence, protection of property and the defence of necessity are no longer available to property owners, so the reports claim.
However, nothing could be further from the truth. The proposed Bill does no such thing.
The Unlawful Entry on Premises Bill, if acceded to, will replace the current Trespassing Act. The reason for the replacement is that the Constitutional Court has declared that the Trespassing Act has its roots in the apartheid era, and its purpose is no longer appropriate in our current democratic dispensation.
The proposed Bill has no impact on the crimes of burglary or robbery, nor does it affect an individual’s rights to self-defence or to act out of necessity. These, like trespassing, are separate crimes and defences which the Bill does not impact on at all.
What the Bill does is the following:
- it, again criminalises, the act of trespassing (now called ‘unlawful entry’). Therefore, a person who unlawfully, without the consent of the lawful occupier or without any other lawful reason, enters a premises, may be charged with unlawful entry;
- it places an obligation on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to arrest persons who gained unlawful entry after being informed that such entry has occurred;
- it places an obligation on the lawful occupier or other authorised person to inform the SAPS as soon as he becomes aware of the unlawful entry; and
- the SAPS has a responsibility to arrest said persons irrespective of whether they have already erected or occupied a structure on the property.
This Bill entrenches the rights of owners and lawful occupiers and should be supported and not opposed as suggested by some social media commentators.
Jaco Swart is the National Manager at the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA).
For more information:
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za