Black First Land First leader Andile Mngxitama assisted unauthorised people to occupy a mansion in Brooklyn in Johannesburg, notes a report on the IoL site. The house had been standing empty for about three years after the owner died. Lawyer Michael Potgieter, the executor of the estate of the late Willem and Dorothea Serfontein, turned to the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to have the squatters evicted.

In his application, Potgieter asked the court to urgently evict two individuals from the house, identified as Amanda and Dlozi. He also asked that any other occupants of house at 253 Brooks Street be evicted. In her answering papers, a person named Amanda Mjindi, who gave her address as 253 Brooks Street, opposed the application.

Mngxitama filed an affidavit in which he supported what she stated. Potgieter said he was duty-bound to preserve the assets, as it was valuable property worth about R3m. The matter was first served before the urgent court on 24 August, when Mngxitama told the judge that he spoke on behalf of the group and he said there was a lease agreement in place with the executor of the estate.

He wanted this ‘agreement’ to be made an order of court. The matter stood down for the group to present an affidavit. Mjindi, in her affidavit, said the matter was not urgent and that they were legally in the house as Potgieter had granted them permission to stay there after they had moved in. Potgieter denied there was a lease agreement.

Judge Nelisa Mali removed the matter from the roll as she found it was not urgent.

Full report on the IoL site