A group of Salem residents whose bid for land under the land restitution act has dragged on for more than a decade emerged victorious in the high court in Grahamstown on Friday 2 May.
A group of Salem residents whose bid for land under the land restitution act has dragged on for more than a decade emerged victorious in the high court in Grahamstown on Friday 2 May.
The Land Claims Court finally passed judgment in the long-running case in the Eastern Cape High Court. It involved the Salem Commonage, a tract of land around the village 20km south of Grahamstown. It is occupied by smallholdings and farms ranging from 60ha to 200ha, including a private game farm and lodge. It also includes the Salem Club and cricket grounds and its two churches.
The claimants group, mostly elderly people with roots in the Salem area, were initially confused by Judge AJ Sardiwalla's ruling.
However, after an explanation from one of the state attorneys, the crowd erupted in jubilation.
Speaking to Grocott's Mail shortly after what he described as a landmark case, Mava Mlola of the state attorney's Umtata office said the case was on everyone's lips at the moment. Mlola was representing the Eastern Cape Regional Claims Commission.
"Everyone has been waiting for this judgment. I think this judgment will affect the cases that the Eastern Cape Regional Land Claims Commission is handling," he said.
The case drew the attention of many. Even Makana Mayor Zamuxolo Peter made a quick turn at the Grahamstown high court on Friday.
The judgment took the whole day. Even the judge made a funny comment about people sleeping while he read out the 64-page-long document.
After the judgment, the courtroom was in high spirits.
Mlola said he was exited because that was what they had gone to ask for in court.
"The judgment was in our favour. We are so grateful," he said.
He said the next step would be to take the judgment to the relevant channels, to establish the way forward.
"We will take the court order and court judgment and go through them. We'll consider the judgment against the instructions of my client department, the Regional Land Claims Commission.
"Everything else will follow after the regional claims commission has given further instructions to my office," he said.
Mlola said that in the 12 years it took to reach this point, the commission had done considerable groundwork for the case.
"The lodgement of the claim and the process of getting the case to court today determined the end result," he said.
In his order Sardiwalla, who was accompanied by assessor Dr Wallace Mgoqu, said the Salem community was dispossessed of the right to land after June 1913. This was the result of past racially discriminatory laws and practices in terms of Section 2 of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994.
The plaintiff was represented by Notshe SC, instructed by Malusi and Co attorneys.
The Regional Claims Commission was represented by advocate Joel Krige, instructed by the state attorney Umtata.
The land-owner defendants were represented by advocate MG Roberts, assisted by advocate CG Van der Walt, instructed by Cox and Partners.
Since the inception of land redistribution in December 1998, only seven out of 40 farms have been reinstituted. The negotiation phase deadlocked over property evaluation results.
The current farmers argued that the claimants' forebears were not a community, but labourers.
The claimants are Mzukisi Madlavu, Lingani Nondzube, Mtutuzeli Madinda, Douglas Rwentela, Misile Nondzube and Ndoyisile Ngqiyaza.
Online next week and in Friday's print edition, Grocott's Mail will look at what this landmark judgment means for the Salem community, and what impact it may have on future land claims.
