Successful Beaufort West land reform beneficiaries approach court to secure 30-year lease
On 4 April 2023, three land reform beneficiaries, filed an application in the Western Cape High Court to review and set aside a decision by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to not award a 30-year lease to them over five farms in the Beaufort West District, collectively known as Plateau Farms. In 2009, the then Department of Rural Development and Land Reform allocated five farms in the district, collectively known as Plateau Farm, to more than 80 beneficiaries as part of its land reform project. The applicants were amongst these beneficiaries. All three of the applicants are children of previous farm workers in the Beaufort West area and they regarded access to this land as a means to eradicate the discriminatory land ownership patterns that prevailed under apartheid.
By 2017, the other beneficiaries had left the farms as their leases over the farms had expired. The applicants established Nuveld (Pty) Ltd, an entity though which they farmed Plateau Farm, subject to a concession by the Department. Their sheep farming operations became highly successful, and in 2020 as well as 2023, their wool obtained the highest average price for the Beaufort West region at the national wool auction in Gqeberha.
In December 2019, the Department placed an advertisement in the newspaper, calling for applicants for a 30-year lease over Plateau Farm. Through Nuveld, the applicants applied for the lease, underwent an interview process, and was recommended by the National Land Acquisition and Allocation Control Committee (NLAACC) as the preferred candidates for the lease. Despite this recommendation, the Acting Chief Director: Western Cape Provincial Shared Services, Mr Lubabalo Mbekeni, took a decision on 27 September 2020, not to award the lease to Nuveld.
While section 25(5) of the Constitution makes provision for the redistribution of land, there is currently no empowering legislation to give effect to this section. Instead, successive land redistribution policies have been published by the Department to guide the programme. However, these policies lack clear beneficiary selection criteria, application and allocation procedures, and do not provide the applicants with any recourse should their applications be unsuccessful, or they are unhappy with the reasons for the decisions. In addition, the policies are not always publicly available, making it difficult for potential beneficiaries to know how to apply, and what will be considered when they do apply for redistribution programmes.
To address this lack of a legal framework, the applicants are also asking the court for declaratory relief to address the Department’s failure to create a transparent and consistent legal and policy framework for land redistribution in South Africa. The declaratory relief is supported by the East Cape Agricultural Research Project (ECARP), a non-profit organisation situated in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape that supports communities and individuals that have benefitted from land reform programmes. They are asking the court to order that any applicant that applies for the redistribution of land in terms of any legislation, policy, or programme of the government, has a right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair.
This includes a lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair application process and consideration of the application. It also requires the Department to provide applicants with a written procedure that will be used to access the application, including the criteria that will be applied. It also compels the Department to take decisions on applications within a reasonable time after lodging the application and for the applicants to be provided with a written decision and reasons for the decision.
