Abstract:
The Hattingh v Juta case raised the question of the right to family life in the context of Extension of
Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 (“ESTA”). This contribution considers the judgments that decided
this case from a spatial justice perspective. In particular, it follows a feminist approach to spatial
justice. As such, the notions of rights as relational, relational space and nested relations of belonging
stand central to the considerations in the article. These concepts are explored with reliance on the
work of Jennifer Nedelsky, Doreen Massey and Sarah Keenan. The central argument entails that the
courts failed to fully acknowledge the relationality of both space and rights and accordingly the nested
power relation of ownership took preference over that of family life. It looks critically at how space
and belonging are produced and reproduced through rights.
