An international company providing several jobs in the agricultural sector has had to go to court to remain on a farm it leased from the government after the state transferred the property to land claimants without informing the tenant. A Netwerk24 report notes Eastern Produce, a subsidiary of British company EP SA, has been in a running battle in the Land Claims Court since 2015 to stay on the farm, Wales, in the Bushbuckridge area.

The company first signed a long-term lease for the farm in May 1994 and renewed it in October 2004 through to March 2020. It only became aware that the government had transferred the land to claimants after the community started eviction proceedings against EP SA.

The court noted that the company had constructed roads, dams, pipelines, irrigation systems, a factory and plantations since operations began. It therefore had a protectable interest in the property it had been ordered to vacate.

The court dismissed EP SA’s bid to stop the transfer to the community, but gave it some relief by finding the long-term lease remains valid and enforceable. The court held that the description of property rights in the Constitution was wide enough to afford protection to the limited rights of the long-term tenant.

The transfer of the land will not affect the existing lease, notes the report.

Full Netwerk24 report