Legal Articles and Guides

The Constitutional Court has ordered the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights to prioritise land claims lodged in 1998 over those lodged between July 2014 and July 2016. A Cape Times report notes Parliament recently failed to enact a new Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act, and the top court yesterday dismissed an application by the Speaker of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the NCOP for an extension of an interdict against the processing of claims lodged between 2014 and 2016, pursuant to drafting a new land claims Act.

Thousands of military veterans are fighting a bid by the Municipal Councillors Pension Fund (MCPF) to liquidate a North West property developer to protect their stake in two vast tracts of land valued at R850m, says a Weekend Argus report. MCPF curators have applied to the Western Cape High Court to have Isago@N12 Development liquidated for failing to repay about R137m.

A recent decision handed down by the Constitutional Court in the matter of Amardien and Others v Registrar of Deeds and Others [2018] ZACC 47 confirms the steps to be taken by a seller before he may unilaterally cancel an instalment sale agreement.

The ANC is very clear in its position on land expropriation, which is no threat to foreign investments, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in answer to a question in Parliament yesterday. ‘There is no question about it. What I told investors at the World Economic Forum is absolutely correct,’ he said.

Cape Town’s residents owe the city R9.887bn in unpaid rates and services bills, says a Cape Argus report. The city’s Finance Directorate sent a report to the Finance Portfolio Committee that it was owed R7.846bn by households and a further R1.513bn by businesses, with other outstanding debt totalling nearly R500m.

‘A complete miscarriage of justice’ was the response from District Six land claimants following the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s submission that it would take two more decades for them to return to the place they call home.

The developers of the Currie Road highrise that has been at the centre of legal action for the past few years, have been ordered to pay almost R21m to company Nela Kahle for renting scaffolding that still stands on the property to date. The Mercury reports this comes after the KZN High Court (Durban) made a ruling in the matter in favour of Nela Kahle last year.

The Ingonyama Trust has condemned a court bid to compel it to stop collecting rent from occupiers of land that falls under it as a ‘direct attack’ on Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and his subjects, according to a Sunday Times report. The trust was responding to an application filed by the Legal Resources Centre on behalf of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), the Rural Women’s Movement and seven informal land rights holders who are challenging the conversion of informal land rights to long-term lease agreements.

If you plan to buy a house before the property market starts to recover from its present doldrums, be aware of the risks you face if anyone is currently in the property.

The Department of Rural Development & Land Reform and an Eastern Cape chief have succeeded in convincing the Eastern Cape High Court (Mthatha) that they have the right to bring a case about a group of people they claim are illegally occupying land in Libode.

The battle between Bo-Kaap residents and construction company Blok was delayed in the Western Cape High Court yesterday. The delay came about after Blok managed to identify nine members of the community, who were initially joined as parties to the proceedings, but who had not been named.

Minister of Rural Development & Land Reform Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has said it would not be physically feasible to restore the claimed Centurion land to the claimants because the land in question had been developed. According to a Pretoria News report, the Minister added residents of the affected areas should therefore not fear losing their properties to the claimants should the land claim be successful.

The Bo-Kaap community and land activists have hailed a Heritage Western Cape (HWC) decision to dismiss an appeal for development in the historically significant area. Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers Association secretary Jacky Poking said the HWC Appeals Committee dismissed developer Any Side Investments’ appeal, regarding their proposed development of 150 Buitengracht Street.

Cape Town was on the brink of a garbage disaster just before Christmas in 2016 – but it was kept secret and resolved unlawfully. A Times Select report says the ‘situation of potential emergency’ has come to light in a judgment which lambasts the city council for an 11th-hour land grab intended to stave off catastrophe.

The Constitutional Court has ruled that municipalities are obliged to consider the possibilities that a new development could devalue nearby properties before approving building plans. The court said that when a proposed building is being considered, the decision-maker should check against whether the proposed property could disfigure the area, or reduce the value of the adjacent properties, notes a News24 report.