The normality of anarchy

In the landmark Grootboom judgment in 2000, the Constitutional Court worried about the state’s attitude towards the poorest of the poor who were meant to be served by the new democratic order. Referring to a Cape community that had invaded land and was demanding access to decent housing and services, the justices of the nation’s highest court noted that “the issues here remind us of the intolerable conditions under which many of our people are still living”.

“It is also a reminder that, unless the