The rights of the Xhosa nation in the Zuurveld area in the Eastern Cape were extinguished when the nation was conquered and expelled from the area in 1812.
This is one of the arguments put up by land owners of the Salem commonage near Grahamstown‚ who have taken the fight to keep their land to the Constitutional Court.
Their appeal follows two judgments‚ which said the 6598 ha of agricultural land belongs to the indigenous people.
The owners‚ who said they occupied the land from 1820 following the conquest of the Xhosa nation by the British during Fourth Frontier War between 1811 and 1812‚ want the court to set aside the judgment of Supreme Court of Appeal passed in December last year.
The appeal court‚ in a 4-1 decision‚ dismissed the land owners’ appeal against a 2014 Land Claims Court judgment‚ which found that the community of black people existed in the area and they had been dispossessed of the land after June 19‚ 1913.
The Salem Community claimed it was dispossessed of its right to the commonage from around 1947 until the 1980s. It claims about 500 members were in occupation of the commonage.
The Constitution states that a community dispossessed of land after this date‚ as a result of past discriminatory laws‚ was entitled either to restitution of property or to equitable redress.
However‚ the landowners‚ some of whom descended from the 1820 British settlers‚ remain adamant that there was no black community in the area from 1812.
This was because the war had expelled the Xhosa people from the Zuurveld area.
After that‚ the settlers were given right to occupy land and those rights were in 1848 converted into freehold rights.
“This entitled each owner of an erf to an undivided share of the commonage‚” Peter Anthony Amm‚ a trustee of the Lindale Trust and who was asked to represent the landowners‚ said in his application before the Constitutional Court‚
Amm said black people who started coming to the area after 1878 to seek employment in Salem‚ resided on the private erven of the landowners and on the commonage‚ with the permission of‚ or consent of the landowners.
The land owners say because the conquest happened before international law disapproved of conquests for possession of land‚ such contest was valid and at the time was an accepted method of acquiring title.
“It is further respectfully submitted that the (Land Claims Court) erred in finding that the 1811/1812 Frontier War did not constitute a conquest over the Xhosa Nation and that they were not effectively expelled from the Zuurveld‚” Amm said in an affidavit filed on January 31.
The court has not issued directions in this matter. — TMG Digital
Border war meant Xhosa people were 'rightfully expelled' from Eastern Cape land‚ owners claim
The rights of the Xhosa nation in the Zuurveld area in the Eastern Cape were extinguished when the nation was conquered and expelled from the area in 1812.
This is one of the arguments put up by land owners of the Salem commonage near Grahamstown‚ who have taken the fight to keep their land to the Constitutional Court.
Their appeal follows two judgments‚ which said the 6598 ha of agricultural land belongs to the indigenous people.
The owners‚ who said they occupied the land from 1820 following the conquest of the Xhosa nation by the British during Fourth Frontier War between 1811 and 1812‚ want the court to set aside the judgment of Supreme Court of Appeal passed in December last year.
The appeal court‚ in a 4-1 decision‚ dismissed the land owners’ appeal against a 2014 Land Claims Court judgment‚ which found that the community of black people existed in the area and they had been dispossessed of the land after June 19‚ 1913.
The Salem Community claimed it was dispossessed of its right to the commonage from around 1947 until the 1980s. It claims about 500 members were in occupation of the commonage.
The Constitution states that a community dispossessed of land after this date‚ as a result of past discriminatory laws‚ was entitled either to restitution of property or to equitable redress.
However‚ the landowners‚ some of whom descended from the 1820 British settlers‚ remain adamant that there was no black community in the area from 1812.
This was because the war had expelled the Xhosa people from the Zuurveld area.
After that‚ the settlers were given right to occupy land and those rights were in 1848 converted into freehold rights.
“This entitled each owner of an erf to an undivided share of the commonage‚” Peter Anthony Amm‚ a trustee of the Lindale Trust and who was asked to represent the landowners‚ said in his application before the Constitutional Court‚
Amm said black people who started coming to the area after 1878 to seek employment in Salem‚ resided on the private erven of the landowners and on the commonage‚ with the permission of‚ or consent of the landowners.
The land owners say because the conquest happened before international law disapproved of conquests for possession of land‚ such contest was valid and at the time was an accepted method of acquiring title.
“It is further respectfully submitted that the (Land Claims Court) erred in finding that the 1811/1812 Frontier War did not constitute a conquest over the Xhosa Nation and that they were not effectively expelled from the Zuurveld‚” Amm said in an affidavit filed on January 31.
The court has not issued directions in this matter. — TMG Digital
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