Spatial justice, relationality and the right to family life : a discussion of Hattingh v Juta 2013 3 SA 275 (CC)

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.