In late July 2022, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) represented the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF) in its application to the Gauteng division High Court for the reversal of the eviction of over 400 informal traders from the De Villiers trading precinct in the City of Johannesburg. The High Court issued an order reversing the eviction. However, a local politician criticised SERI and its clients in a series of social media posts and a media interview. These remarks led to threats of violence against Seri and its staff, including threats to burn down SERI’s offices, kill the lawyers who represented SAITF and harm SERI staff. This has been exacerbated by the circulation of photographs and contact details of SERI staff. The threats resulted in the temporary closure of SERI's offices.