A Limpopo family has vowed to wait for a bulldozer to flatten their dwellings in defiance of a recent court order instructing them to leave a farm they have occupied for years.
Seven members of the Selomo family have six days to vacate the Pennsylvania farm which is situated in Baltimore after the Land Claims Court ruled in favour of land owner Desmond Ettiene Doman.
The family also has a pending land claim on the farm which, according to a letter from the regional land claims commission, was instituted in July.
The eldest member of the family Gabriel Selomo, 68, told Sowetan they would not move.
The family also rejected alternative living space identified by the Blouberg local municipality following the court ruling in June.
"We will not leave this place. The people from the municipality came here a few days ago and we told them that we are not leaving. If bulldozers come, we will sit and wait," Selomo said.
According to court papers which the Sowetan has seen, the family was instructed to vacate the farm by November 30 and remove all their belongings, including livestock.
"The defendants are authorised to demolish all structures currently occupied by them on the said farm and to remove any material so salvaged from these structures," it states. It further states that failure to move would result in an eviction by the sheriff of the court. However, Selomo, who claimed to have been on the farm since he was born in 1948, said the eviction was unfair.
There are three houses in the family's enclosed yard. They also have livestock, including cattle.
Selomo showed Sowetan a few graves which he said belonged to his parents, his four children and other relatives.
"They might as well have killed us because this is the land we love. We do not want the other place."
Blouberg municipality spokeswoman Nhlanhla Mashele said officials, including the mayor and the speaker of council, visited the area on Monday to try and convince them to move to the new site.
She said the situation was now out of their hands as the municipality had tried their best by identifying alternative land for the family. "We have prepared a place for them but they are refusing to move, which is a problem because the land is privately owned," she said.
Spokeswoman for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform Linda Page said she could not comment on the specific case until she had ascertained the department's involvement in the matter.
However, Page said generally, it was advisable to respect an order of the court. She said the fact that the family had a pending land claim would not affect the eviction order as long-term processes were yet to unfold before the claim was finalised.
'We wont leave our farm'
A Limpopo family has vowed to wait for a bulldozer to flatten their dwellings in defiance of a recent court order instructing them to leave a farm they have occupied for years.
Seven members of the Selomo family have six days to vacate the Pennsylvania farm which is situated in Baltimore after the Land Claims Court ruled in favour of land owner Desmond Ettiene Doman.
The family also has a pending land claim on the farm which, according to a letter from the regional land claims commission, was instituted in July.
The eldest member of the family Gabriel Selomo, 68, told Sowetan they would not move.
The family also rejected alternative living space identified by the Blouberg local municipality following the court ruling in June.
"We will not leave this place. The people from the municipality came here a few days ago and we told them that we are not leaving. If bulldozers come, we will sit and wait," Selomo said.
According to court papers which the Sowetan has seen, the family was instructed to vacate the farm by November 30 and remove all their belongings, including livestock.
"The defendants are authorised to demolish all structures currently occupied by them on the said farm and to remove any material so salvaged from these structures," it states. It further states that failure to move would result in an eviction by the sheriff of the court. However, Selomo, who claimed to have been on the farm since he was born in 1948, said the eviction was unfair.
There are three houses in the family's enclosed yard. They also have livestock, including cattle.
Selomo showed Sowetan a few graves which he said belonged to his parents, his four children and other relatives.
"They might as well have killed us because this is the land we love. We do not want the other place."
Blouberg municipality spokeswoman Nhlanhla Mashele said officials, including the mayor and the speaker of council, visited the area on Monday to try and convince them to move to the new site.
She said the situation was now out of their hands as the municipality had tried their best by identifying alternative land for the family. "We have prepared a place for them but they are refusing to move, which is a problem because the land is privately owned," she said.
Spokeswoman for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform Linda Page said she could not comment on the specific case until she had ascertained the department's involvement in the matter.
However, Page said generally, it was advisable to respect an order of the court. She said the fact that the family had a pending land claim would not affect the eviction order as long-term processes were yet to unfold before the claim was finalised.
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