19 September 2023
Lloyd Phillips and Jeanne van der Merwe
The office of minister Thoko Didiza withdrew an urgent eviction application against a farmer from the Morgenzon district at the 11th hour. It also indicated that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development will cover the legal costs for the wasted time.
Didiza’s application was scheduled to be heard in the high court in Middelburg on Monday, but the farmer’s attorney received notice on Friday that the department would remove the case from the urgent court roll.
Paul Grey, who sold his farm to the state more than 10 years ago in anticipation of an empowerment partnership, was unexpectedly evicted on August 9 by heavily armed individuals after the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development appointed a third party as a supervisor.
“They told me I had 10 minutes to get the hell out of the property,” Grey told African Farming at the time. He and his family went into hiding.
Around the same time, social media posts claimed Grey had burnt live animals in protest of the eviction. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) investigated these claims and found them to be untrue.
Grey successfully brought a court application against the eviction. When he returned to the farm on August 14, he said many of the family’s possessions were missing.
“Both houses and offices were looted. Safes were broken open. Many things were stolen and vandalised. We have filed criminal complaints,” he told Landbou.com.
Grey’s attorney, Jakes van Strijp of Noltes Incorporated in Ermelo, said the Grey family has not received any feedback from the police regarding these investigations.
Factual disputes
Shortly after Didiza informed the Grey family of her intention to file an urgent application to permanently evict the family, Van Strijp said: “My clients are lawfully on the properties, and the process initiated by the minister is defective as there are multiple factual disputes that cannot be determined by a court during an application.”
Didiza’s next step is unclear. The notice removing the application from the urgent court roll does not explain the reasons for the withdrawal. Reggie Ngcobo, Didiza’s spokesperson, said the department “will not comment until the case is heard in court”.
Gibson Ngobeni, Didiza’s state prosecutor in Mpumalanga, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Van Strijp.
Ngcobo has also not responded to previous inquiries about the nature and progress of the empowerment project earmarked for the land.
Judge Mpopelele Langa, who heard Grey’s application against his eviction, was critical of the government’s actions.
“It cannot be accepted that people should take the law into their own hands when seeking the eviction of another person from a property in that manner without proper legal process,” he said.
“In this case, my concern is that a government department is involved. Government departments are expected to uphold the law and the constitution.”
This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.
