The Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community of the North West got its wish to be in control of the land that was restored to it in 2006.
The Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered that the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela Communal Property Association must be permanently registered. It set aside the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that the association had ceased to exist when the provisional registration period of 12 months was not extended in 2008.
The judgment ensures that the community‚ instead of the tribal authority or its chief‚ will be in charge of the land of which the community was dispossessed and forcibly removed from during the apartheid regime. A portion of the Pilanesberg game reserve is on this land.
The association’s general secretary Bridgeman Sojane said after the judgment that the department of rural development and land reform must now issue the association with a certificate which would allow it to hold any transactions with the land on behalf the community.
“We are sitting on a platinum belt where we saw a lot of mining activities over 20 years‚ but where the community did not benefit. The community is ravaged by poverty and unemployment. We want the community to benefit‚” Sojane said.
After the land was restored to the community in 2006‚ there was a dispute between the community on the one hand and the tribal authority and Kgosi (chief) Nyalala Pilane on the other. The chief and the tribal authority preferred the land to be held in a trust‚ while the community wanted an association whereby the community would control the land.
A provisional association was registered in September 2007 but the dispute was not resolved and the association was not registered as a permanent one.
The association approached the Land Claims Court in 2013 asking that it be permanently registered. Kgosi Pilane and the tribal authority opposed the application.
The Land Claims Court ordered that the association was entitled to be registered but the decision was overturned by the SCA last year.
In a unanimous judgment‚ Justice Chris Jafta said the Communal Property Association Act allowed a provisional association to occupy and use land for 12 months but made no mention at all of the lifespan of the provisional association.
“Consequently‚ the Supreme Court of Appeal erred in assigning to the section the meaning that the provisional association ceases to exist upon the expiry of the initial 12 months‚ unless an extension is granted.”
Jafta said once an association qualified to be registered‚ the director-general had no discretion but to register the association.
“The fact that a traditional leader or some members of the traditional community prefer a different entity to the association is not a justification for withholding registration and imposing mediation on the parties.”
The tribal authority had not responded to a request for comment by Thursday afternoon
Land victory for Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community
The Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community of the North West got its wish to be in control of the land that was restored to it in 2006.
The Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered that the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela Communal Property Association must be permanently registered. It set aside the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that the association had ceased to exist when the provisional registration period of 12 months was not extended in 2008.
The judgment ensures that the community‚ instead of the tribal authority or its chief‚ will be in charge of the land of which the community was dispossessed and forcibly removed from during the apartheid regime. A portion of the Pilanesberg game reserve is on this land.
The association’s general secretary Bridgeman Sojane said after the judgment that the department of rural development and land reform must now issue the association with a certificate which would allow it to hold any transactions with the land on behalf the community.
“We are sitting on a platinum belt where we saw a lot of mining activities over 20 years‚ but where the community did not benefit. The community is ravaged by poverty and unemployment. We want the community to benefit‚” Sojane said.
After the land was restored to the community in 2006‚ there was a dispute between the community on the one hand and the tribal authority and Kgosi (chief) Nyalala Pilane on the other. The chief and the tribal authority preferred the land to be held in a trust‚ while the community wanted an association whereby the community would control the land.
A provisional association was registered in September 2007 but the dispute was not resolved and the association was not registered as a permanent one.
The association approached the Land Claims Court in 2013 asking that it be permanently registered. Kgosi Pilane and the tribal authority opposed the application.
The Land Claims Court ordered that the association was entitled to be registered but the decision was overturned by the SCA last year.
In a unanimous judgment‚ Justice Chris Jafta said the Communal Property Association Act allowed a provisional association to occupy and use land for 12 months but made no mention at all of the lifespan of the provisional association.
“Consequently‚ the Supreme Court of Appeal erred in assigning to the section the meaning that the provisional association ceases to exist upon the expiry of the initial 12 months‚ unless an extension is granted.”
Jafta said once an association qualified to be registered‚ the director-general had no discretion but to register the association.
“The fact that a traditional leader or some members of the traditional community prefer a different entity to the association is not a justification for withholding registration and imposing mediation on the parties.”
The tribal authority had not responded to a request for comment by Thursday afternoon
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