Eviction: Brother loses court bid to stay in sister’s home

A man has lost his urgent court bid to stop his eviction from his sister’s property, with the ruling that he must move out by the end of August despite their bitter family dispute. The case centred on a long-running disagreement between siblings Douglas Chigudu and his sister, Chipo, over apropertyin Randburg, Johannesburg. Though the brother argued that he should be allowed to stay while he challenged an earlier eviction order, the court found that he had little chance of succeeding.

Judge Wilson of the Johannesburg high court dismissed Chigudu’s application for interim relief but gave him more time to leave the property. Instead of beingforcedout immediately, he now has until August 31 2026 to vacate the house with his two sons. The court heard that the property belongs to Chipo, who now lives in the UK.

Her brother and his sons had been living there without paying rent. Chigudu claimed they stayed there in return for looking after another property owned by his sister that she rented out. The dispute reached court after the siblings signed a settlement agreement during eviction proceedings.

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Under that agreement, Chigudu promised to buy the property if he could raise the money by June 30 2026. If he failed, he agreed to leave by July 1 and accepted that he could be evicted if he stayed on. When he failed to secure the money, the sheriff evicted him and his sons on July 9.

He and his children spent two nights sleeping in an unused garage and used nearby public facilities to wash. One of his sons suffers from chronic breathing problems, while the other was preparing for examinations. Because of those circumstances, Wilson temporarily allowed the family back into the house while the urgent application was heard.

But after considering all the evidence, the judge ruled that Chigudu had failed to show that the earlier eviction order should be set aside. One of his arguments was that he never truly agreed to the settlement because he believed he would be able to obtain finance to buy the property. “That argument stands in obvious tension with the fact that he signed that agreement,” Wilson said.

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