The house where my mother has lived for ten years seems to have been sold. What happens now?

The long answer

Thank you for your email asking what you can do about your chronically ill mother who is being told that the house where she has been living for ten years has been sold.
In the first place, the Constitution says that no one can be evicted without a court order. This is under the 1998 Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act known as PIE. The people who claim to have bought your mother’s house must advise her that they will be seeking a court order to evict her, and she must receive written notice of the date of the court hearing.
At the hearing she will be given a chance to give her side of the story, as well as the people who have bought the house. The court must hear all the details of the case before granting an eviction order, and it must take into consideration the effect of the eviction on the person involved - your mother in this case - especially as she is chronically ill and elderly.
The Constitution says that everyone has the right to adequate housing and that the government must try to achieve this goal as far as possible within its means, or in other words, as much as it can afford to. That is why the municipality in the area must also be informed of the court hearing and must attend, so that they can indicate whether they can assist with emergency housing if an eviction order is granted.
If the court does grant an eviction order, your mother must be given reasonable time to move out, whether or not this is into emergency housing provided by the municipality. She must be served personally with that order by a sheriff of the court. The order must contain the date of the eviction, and only the sheriff of the court can evict her, not the owners or anybody else.
She could consult Legal Aid for assistance. Here are their contact details:
0800 110 110 (Monday to Friday 7AM - 7PM)
079 835 7179 (Please Call Me)
communications2@legal-aid.co.za