The ownership of Mpumalanga's R1-billion 2010 soccer stadium and 118ha of neighbouring land will be probed by a new board of trustees who were appointed by the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.
Members of the Matsafeni farm worker community, who were originally granted the land in terms of a land claims settlement in 2003, spontaneously cheered and clapped hands following the ruling.
The stadium is being built on agricultural land originally ceded to them. Developers plan to use the stadium as the centrepiece for a new sport, entertainment and upmarket residential precinct in Nelspruit.
The government, however, illegally took the land in 2007 when it "bought" it for R1 without any of the necessary approvals from the Matsafeni beneficiaries or other interested parties.
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The court on Tuesday heard this land was extremely valuable as it was productive farm land.
The Bombela Stadium - one of the 2010 soccer stadiums - is being built on a part of the land.
Following the "purchase" of the land, the government tried to forcibly relocate the residents to a spot about 25km outside town.
The deal had been declared irregular by an independent forensic audit commissioned by the Mbombela Local Municipality.
Human rights lawyer Richard Spoor was appointed by the 883 members of the Matsafeni community to take on their plight and on Tuesday he applied to the court to remove the current trustees.
It was claimed that the trustees had fraudulently amended the trust deed.
It was further claimed that they utilised the trust assets for their own advantage and that they appeared to have misappropriated funds belonging to the trust for personal advantage.
Spoor said the trustees earlier entered into a sale of land agreement with the Mbombela municipality in which they "sold" 43ha for the purchase consideration of R1. "This is less than what one pays for a daily newspaper," he said.
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