In his last Constitutional Court judgment, Justice Edwin Cameron, who retired yesterday, ruled in favour of labour tenants who have been trying for more than 22 years to lay claim to a portion of SA's most expensive and prestigious school, Hilton College, in the KZN midlands.

In the judgment penned by Cameron, the court ordered the reinstatement of a Land Claims Court (LCC) order to appoint a special master to oversee claims by families who laboured on farms in lieu of payments and permission to live on a portion of the farm, reports TimesLIVE.

The case for the appointment of a special master was brought by the Pietermaritzburg-based land rights advocacy NGO, the Association of Rural Advancement, and the Legal Resources Centre in 2013 as a class action on behalf of labour tenants whose claims have not been processed.

At the heart of the arguments was a portion of Hilton College's 1 762ha property, which includes farmland, timber plantations and a game reserve, the subject of a land claim by the labour tenants.

The school disputed the claim that excludes the school buildings and sports fields. In 2016, the LCC found the Department of Rural Development & Land Reform to be in contempt of numerous court orders and in contravention of the provisions of the Labour Tenants Act of 1996.

It found in favour of the labour tenants' application to have a special master appointed to oversee the processing of labour tenant claims, about 11 000 of which remain incomplete since the closing date in 2001. However, the department opposed the appointment of a special master, and last year the SCA set aside the LCC's judgment in favour of the appointment of a special court master.

Full TimesLIVE report

Mwelase and Others v Director-General for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and Another

The judgment sent a clear message to government, according to Justice Minister Ronald Lamola. That lesson, he said, was to deal with the pressing issue of labour tenants, who he said were the most vulnerable in society, notes TimesLIVE.

‘The judgment speaks to the pressing reality of the land question in our country that we need to fast track. I’m happy that in government there already is an inter-ministerial team that is addressing these issues of labour tenants and farm workers,’ Lamola said.

He added that he was also happy that government was dealing with the ‘land question as a whole’, particularly ensuring that there was ‘rapid land release’. It was also important, he said, that the government was able to ‘transform agriculture ... to make sure we make a contribution into the economy’.

‘I think it’s a lesson for us. Let’s correct what the court says needs to be corrected and attend to the challenges of the labour tenants,’ Lamola added.

Full TimesLIVE report