Justin Pearce
Sixty-five-year-old Koos Joubert locked horns with the mighty Anglo American Corporation — and lost.
After an out-of-court settlement this week, the Eastern Transvaal farmer faces the prospect of having to destroy his own home at his own expense.
Joubert owns the farm Spitskop in Steelpoort, but Anglo owns the mineral rights. The land has valuable deposits of manganese, chromitite and vanadium.
Anglo had intended to sue Joubert for building a new home on the land without the corporation’s permission.
The terms of the out-of-court settlement forbade both Joubert and Anglo from speaking to the press, but the Mail & Guardian has learnt the details of the case from other farmers in the area.
In terms of the settlement, if Anglo decides to start mining the land, they may do so at 90 days notice, and Joubert has a further 180 days to demolish his home at his own expense.
Joubert apparently accepted the settlement rather than risk a ruling that would force each party to pay its own legal costs. The settlement resulted in Anglo paying 70 percent of Joubert’s legal costs, but the 30 percent that Joubert must pay amounts to R30 000.
Joubert built his original farmhouse on the land without any objection from Anglo American.
In 1990, Anglo instructed farmers in the district to sign an acknowledgement that they could not build on the land without Anglo’s permission, and that if
they did so they would have to demolish the buildings at their own expense if Anglo decided to mine the land.
Shortly afterwards, Joubert had to abandon his home after the water supply became contaminated by effluent from nearby mines.
He received compensation which enabled him to build a new house near a safe water supply. It is this house which he may have to demolish should Anglo decide to go ahead with mining.