FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12 June 2024
On Tuesday, 11 June 2024, three farmers from Beaufort West, who were beneficiaries of the state’s redistribution programme, returned to the Western Cape High Court for an order holding the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, and some of her departmental officials in contempt of court for failing to place them in possession of portions of the farm on which they have been farming since 2017. The three farmers are represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC).
The application seeks to restore undisturbed possession of two farms to the applicants, following a court order on March 4, 2024 that found the Minister and her Departmental officials had unlawfully deprived the applicants of possession of the farms by placing two former beneficiaries on the land. Despite repeated requests, the Minister and Department have not taken steps to restore possession to the applicants, leading the applicants to seek contempt and jail time.
Back 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 are children of former 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.
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. Since 2018, they have been caretakers of the farm.
In December 2019, the Department placed an advertisement in the newspaper, calling for applications for a 30-year lease agreement over Plateau Farm. The applicants, who had formed a farming entity called Nuveld, applied, were interviewed, and were 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 at the time took a decision in September 2020, not to award the lease to Nuveld, for reasons that the Department refused to disclose to the three farmers. On 4 April 2023, the farmers filed an application in the Western Cape High Court to review and set aside the decision.
Despite this ongoing litigation, officials of the Department decided in January and February 2024 to unlawfully, and without following any of the Department’s policies and procedures for land allocation, allocate two portions of Plateau Farm to two disgruntled former beneficiaries despite them never even applying for such access. On 4 March 2024, the applicants approached the court and obtained an order restoring their undisturbed possession of the farms. After numerous attempts by the applicants to get the department and the former beneficiaries to comply with the order, the applicants approached the court on an urgent basis to have the Minister and the officials, as well as the former beneficiaries placed in contempt of court and appear in person to explain why the Court should not commit them to jail for their non-compliance with the order. In May 2024, two further people moved onto another portion of the farm, and a spoliation order was also sought against the new occupiers.
The application was opposed by the Minister and the Department, as well as the former beneficiaries. The Minister and the Department argued that the order did not require of them to take any steps to remove the former beneficiaries from the farms other than to acknowledge that the allocations was unlawful, despite admitting that they had unlawfully provided them with consent to move onto the farms and had taken steps to place them on the farms. The former beneficiaries argued that the order did not mean that they had to vacate the farms, and that their removal from the farms would constitute an eviction in terms of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA).
The applicants argued that the order did apply to the Minister and the officials and that they had to take steps to remove the beneficiaries from the farms, in particular because the departmental officials personal cut the locks on the farms in January to bring new people onto the land. The applicants also argued that if the respondents were not satisfied with the order, they should have appealed it instead of simply ignoring it.
Should the court find in favour of the applicants, the Minister and the Departmental officials, as well as the former beneficiaries will have to appear in court in person to explain why they should not be committed to jail.
Judgment has been reserved by Mahomed AJ and is expected next week.
For media enquiries contact:
Puleng Mosia: puleng@lrc.org.za
Cell: 063 001 4333
