Judge orders probe of land claims project books
It has been lauded as a rare successful land reform project, but now the Land Claims Court (Randburg) has ordered that the books of the Moletele Community Property Association (CPA) be scrutinised by the Auditor-General and the DG of Rural Development and Land Reform.
Among the issues raised by the court was that in spite of the CPA appearing to be in a ‘very strong financial position’, there were some ‘questionable entries and extraordinary movement of funds for which no rational business or commercial explanation has been provided’.
This included a number of cheques, all identified as payable to ‘chief’, being cashed on one day in January 2020, notes legal writer Tania Broughton in a GroundUp report.
The matter was brought before Judge Brian Spilg by the CPA.
The CPA was attempting to overturn a decision by the Chief Land Claims Commissioner, who had withdrawn state funding for the CPA to continue litigating to lay claim to other land in the area.
It was opposed by competing complainants and private landowners known as ‘the Steyn Group’.
The Steyn Group raised funding concerns with the commissioner, saying the Moletele community owned restituted land valued at R266m, that it was cash-flush, and was using state funds to ‘litigate at leisure’.
The facts, Spilg said in the recent judgment, were straightforward.
The CPA, which was registered in 2006 following a successful land claim in the Maruleng Local Municipality in Limpopo, has an annual revenue stream of more than R20m and accumulated reserves of nearly R141m.
‘They also have perhaps the most precious and economically valuable resources in abundance … access to almost a third of all allocatable water that flows into the Blyde River Dam. Despite this, they continue to also receive funds earmarked for indigent communities … The fund which provides the finances for (land claim) litigation is not a trough, it is taxpayers’ money,’ he said, according to the GroundUp report.
‘This case is therefore about avarice, taking what is not meant for them and about violating our constitutional construct of ubuntu.’
The commissioner withdrew funding in July last year following the complaints by the Steyn Group.
The CPA challenged this, denying that it was wealthy, saying that its land was being used for resettlement and it had no ‘liquid’ assets.
However, Spilg said it was clear that the CPA was flush and was no longer entitled to state funding.
But recent anomalies indicated a need for scrutiny and he had a duty to refer his judgment and the financial statements and bank records to the Auditor-General and DG. This was to ensure that ‘actual members’ of the community were not prejudiced and their legal rights were protected.
He ordered the CPA to pay the legal costs of the commissioner and the Steyn Group, cautioning that in future ‘spurious litigation’ could result in personal cost orders against individual CPA members.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
