192 DEMOLISHING DEVELOPMENT AT GABON INFORMAL SETTLEMENT: PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION BEYOND MODDERKLIP? Kate tissington * i introDuction This article examines recent developments at the Gabon informal settle- ment (Gabon), situated in Daveyton township, Benoni in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, where in May 2010 over 300 families had their shacks illegally demolished by the municipality and Metro police. Gabon is the site of the Modderklip case, 1 which began with eviction proceedings by a private owner for residents unlawfully occupying his land, and ended with the Constitutional Court making a declaratory order entitling the owner to compensation in respect of the occupied land, and allowing the residents to occupy the land until an alternative was provided by the state. Modderklip, together with Grootboom, PE Municipality and more recently, Olivia Road and Joe Slovo, 2 comprise some of the precedent-setting socio- economic rights cases heard before the Constitutional Court which deal directly or indirectly with the right to adequate housing. This article examines the role of the public interest amici curiae in the Modderklip case – both in the litigation proceedings as well as conducting research in Gabon and monitor- ing the Court order – as well as current litigation efforts to provide relief for those rendered homeless by the recent illegal eviction at Gabon. In Modderklip, the amici curiae played a public interest role by advancing to the Court the plight of the unlawful occupiers and the role of the state in the provision of alternative accommodation to vulnerable occupiers evicted by state and non-state actors. The amici parties further played a limited monitor- ing and enforcement role after the Court order was handed down. This article advocates for a broader role for legal non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and public interest advocates – whether those who intervene in cases as amici curiae or those who are directly litigating public interest cases – in ensuring that court orders are complied with after judgments are handed down and in * Research and Advocacy Officer, Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI). 1 President of the Republic of South Africa v Modderklip Boerdery (Pty) Ltd 2005 (5) SA 3 (CC). This article will refer to this case, both in the lower courts and Constitutional Court, as Modderklip. 2 Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom 2001 (1) SA 46 (CC); Port Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers 2005 (1) SA 217 (CC); Residents of Joe Slovo Community, Western Cape v Thubelisha Homes 2010 (3) SA 454 (CC); Occupiers of 51 Olivia Road v City of Johannesburg 2008 (3) SA 208 (CC).