Pretoria - The group of about 150 former tenants of Lady Selborne and descendants of erstwhile landowners who were forcibly removed by the apartheid government will have to wait a while longer to hear whether the ills of the past will be addressed.
The group turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, seeking to return to what they call home. They want the City of Tshwane, the Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform and the Land Claims Commissioner to honour the promises to sell them stands in the newly developed Lady Selborne phase 2 at the promised R43 000 each.
Advocate Annemarie de Vos, who acted on their behalf, said there were 270 stands available. If the authorities honour their promises, these people could each buy a stand, and there would be stands left over to sell to other buyers.
Most of the ousted property owners received stands in the Lady Selborne phase 1 development.
In her opening address on Tuesday before Judge Neil Tuchten, De Vos said this case was all about the dignity of these people.
The judge said it was important for these people to first prove that they each had a legitimate claim to the land. It was agreed that it would be impractical for each of the 152 claimants to testify in court to prove their claims.
Judge Tuchten gave the City and the authorities two months to go through the claims to establish who could prove that they benefited from stands in Lady Selborne.