The High Court in Pietermaritzburg has been asked to make a ground-breaking ruling to protect the interests of all landowners in South Africa whose constitutional rights are said to be threatened by an ongoing illegally "orchestrated mass land invasion" at Mangete in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The application, which got under way in court on Monday, is being brought by Durban human rights advocate and civil rights activist Jenny Wild and the Mangete Landowners' Association.
The latter is involved in a dispute, dating back to 1993, with members of the Macambini tribe led by Chief Khayelihle Mathaba, over the alleged illegal settlement of land claimants on property owned by the descendants of English settler John Dunn at Mangete or Dunn's Reserve near Mthunzini in Zululand.
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The dispute has been accompanied by numerous acts of violence and intimidation including the burning of sugar cane plantations and attacks on members of the Dunn family.
| 'The dispute has been accompanied by numerous acts of violence' |
The application is being opposed by the eight respondents who are KwaZulu-Natal Land Claims Commissioner Thabi Shange, KwaZulu-Natal Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs Dumisani Makhaye, the eNdondakusuka District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Director of Land Reform M Shabane, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza, the KwaZulu-Natal Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, Chief Mathaba and the Macambini Tribal Authority.
Wild, supported by the Mangete Landowners' Associ-ation, has asked Judge Herbert Msimang for a ruling which would force the government to take steps to move 88 families who allegedly continue to illegally occupy land at Mangete.
They allegedly refused to move despite the state having bought property for R14-million in terms of a settlement agreement reached with the claimants.
Wild alleges that the land was not placed in the Ingonyama Trust for the benefit of the Macambini tribe, as is all tribal land in KwaZulu-Natal, but was placed in a specially created private trust under the sole control of Mathaba.
According to the court papers, Mathaba is allegedly a friend of Land Claims Commissioner Thabi Shange.
| 'Mathaba is allegedly a friend of Land Claims Commissioner' |
Wild, who said she was bringing the application "in the public interest", submitted that the state was obliged to enforce its settlement agreement "in order to make good the fundamental rights guaranteed to lawful citizens in the constitution".
She submitted that the implications of the case extended far beyond Mangete because land invasions had become a serious issue in the Southern African region as a result of what had occurred in Zimbabwe.
"The rights of all lawful landowners in South Africa are threatened by actions such as that of Chief Mathaba and those rights should be protected by this court," she said.
The state is defending the action on the basis that Wild does not have the legal standing to bring the application. It was also argued by Advocate Andrea Gabriel that the case amounted to a duplication of a civil action still pending in the Durban High Court for the eviction of the alleged illegal settlers at Mangete. She said the relief sought in that case was "substantially similar".
The hearing was adjourned to March 16 to enable counsel to obtain copies of documents filed in the Durban High Court proceedings which are relevant in the present application.
- This article was originally published on page 2 of The Mercury on March 09, 2004
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