Legal Articles and Guides

In what a Weekend Argus report calls a David versus Goliath legal wrangle, retired farm worker John Damons won a case in the Western Cape High Court against property magnate Harold Johnson. Damons – who worked in the Zeven River Estate in Stellenbosch for 36 years – claimed he had been living without electricity since August after Johnson cut it off.

Rental management company PayProp has recommended legal and personal background searches on prospective tenants, and reference checking, because of the spike in fraud in the rental property market. Falsified bank statements, employer documents and fake IDs are being used by people trying to secure a place to live, according to PayProp, which annually releases research into the rental market.

The Bungalow Owners Association have been left in limbo after the Western Cape High Court referred the ongoing Maiden’s Cove matter to the Judge President for further insight from a different judge. A Weekend Argus report says Judge Vincent Saldanha referred the matter to Judge John Hlophe to allocate a judge to read all the relevant documents.

As the land debate gains intensity ahead of the decision to amend the Constitution to facilitate expropriation without compensation, Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Zweli Mkhize has assured traditional leaders that their land is safe, notes Daily News.

The EFF has been claiming credit for the rush to change the Constitution to facilitate expropriation of land without compensation, but the ANC has poured cold water on its hopes that a constitutional amendment Bill will be passed before next year’s elections, notes Daily News.

A landowner on KZN’s north coast who acquired his property via the land reform process is battling a local municipality that allegedly expropriated the property without his knowledge for a low-cost housing project. According to a report on the IoL site, the matter was set down for argument in the KZN High Court (Durban) this week.

The Constitutional Court – in Maledu and Others v Itereleng Bakgatla Mineral Resources (Pty) Ltd and Another – has unanimously confirmed that mining companies, traditional leaders and the Departments of Rural Development, and Mineral Resources have been flouting the law and the Constitution. ‘The court put people and their rights back at the centre of the administration of their land, something they have been denied by practice and law for centuries,’ says Zenande Booi, of the Land and Accountability Research Centre in the UCT’s Department of Public Law.

The ANC plans to propose minor amendment to section 25 of the Constitution this week when MPs on the Constitutional Review Committee finalise its recommendation, according to Rapport. The ANC says the Constitution should be changed to say ‘more explicitly what is already implied’ – that some instances of expropriation warrant no compensation.

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has filed an application in the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) in a bid to stop the Ingonyama Trust from converting informal land rights into long term lease agreements, writes Legalbrief. The centre is acting for the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, the Rural Women's Movement, and seven informal land rights holders.

Michael Swart (78) – who moved belongings into a home he did not own ‘under cover of darkness’ – has been handed a Western Cape High Court eviction order. A Times Select report says Swart has to leave the Afrikaans Christian Women’s Organisation retirement centre in Robertson, Western Cape, by 12 November.

Residential complexes and estates are becoming more and more popular for the many advantages they provide. Remember however that – in everyone’s interests – they also come with restrictions on your freedom to use and enjoy your property, and that you bind yourself to whatever Conduct Rules apply in your community scheme.

King Goodwill Zwelethini’s Ingonyama Trust is trying to convince the Land Claims Court that land acquired by his ‘subjects’ in a claims process should be given to the trust, according to Rapport. It notes five communities have instituted claims on 11 000ha of land bordering the Ingonyama Trust area and 30 owners have agreed in principle to sell the land for R760m to the state, but the Ingonyama Trust put a spoke in the wheel by demanding that the ‘subjects’ should not be able to acquire the land as independent communities.

After 37 years, the Umgungundlovu community has got its land on the KZN Wild Coast back, which includes the area on which the renowned Sun International casino and resort is built. A BusinessLIVE report says this was after a ‘landmark’ agreement was signed between the community, Sun International and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform last week.

The battle over the state’s bid to process new land claims while it has not settled those brought 20 years ago is headed for a fresh round at the Constitutional Court, says a report in The Star. Admitting to having failed to comply with the court’s order to re-enact legislation within 24 months to enable processing of new claims, Parliament has pleaded for an extension of the deadline. The state sought to be allowed to process the 163 383 new claims it accepted between 2014 and 2016.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is yet to uphold a promise made in 2014 to issue a moratorium on farm evictions, GroundUp reports. In November 2014, Ramaphosa, as Deputy President at the time, was quoted by City Press as promising a moratorium on evictions, after he and a delegation of senior Ministers met agricultural and farm labour representatives in Paarl.