Tara Turkington
An elderly Free State couple are fighting to return to their home of 65 years, after they were evicted two weeks ago by a farmer who sold all their possessions to pay for outstanding “rent”.
David Maarman says he was born on the farm Mostertshoek in the Boshof District in the Free State 65 years ago and has lived there all his life.
In 1965 he married Selina, and the farmer at the time, Jan Geldenhuys, built them a home on the farm to live in. For years, they say, they worked for the Geldenhuys family, then they found better-paying jobs at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley (25km away) but continued to live on the farm, at the Geldenhuyses’ suggestion. David retired from the museum in January after 19 years. Selina started there in 1991 and still works there.
The Maarmans’ trouble began three years ago when the farm was sold to Wym van Zyl, a wealthy farmer who already owned a large dairy farm next door. Van Zyl bought the farm on behalf of a family trust, Wimitia Trust, and is in charge of running Mostertshoek. Selina said that after the sale in October 1997 “Van Zyl told us we had to pay rent of R300 a month, and that it was less than the R350 rent we had been paying. My husband refused to pay it. We had never paid rent before.”
The couple claim they had given the previous owner’s wife, Polly Geldenhuys, R350 each month for several years to put away for safekeeping, not for rent. But they say Polly’s son, Jan Geldenhuys, tricked them into signing papers confirming that the R350 was for rent, long after his father had died. Neither of the Maarmans can read.
Asked about this, Polly said: “There’s no way of her going back and saying that money wasn’t rent. It’s in Selina’s mind [that the money was for savings]. They worked for years for the museum, they didn’t work for us. They paid rent to stay on the farm.
“When we sold the farm, I showed the receipts for rent to Mr Van Zyl,” she said. “I said they were reliable, trustworthy.”
When Geldenhuys sold the farm the Maarmans stopped paying the money they thought was for savings but Van Zyl understood to be rent. For a while, the Maarmans were left to themselves. They were the only people living on the farm, since Van Zyl and his family continued to live on his other farm, Kameelhof.
Last November “Wym van Zyl came and told us that we owed him money. A week after that we got an account for R8 000 for the two years [since the farm had been sold]. A sheriff came and told us we had to pay it. We didn’t have a cent,” Selina said.
A few days later, while the Maarmans were at work, “the sheriff came and cut our lock. He took everything, the bed, the furniture, the carpet and the R150 that I had hidden under it.” He even took personal items like Selina’s watch, her spectacles and a wedding ring she had not yet worn. “David bought it for me because I lost the other one many years ago. It was hidden in the pocket of an old jacket. We just found the jacket on the floor. He is still paying it off. I wasn’t wearing the ring, because it hadn’t been blessed yet.”
A few days later the sheriff returned and took the couple’s two horses and cart, and their pregnant cow. “The horses were my petrol and the cart was my car,” said Selina. “They’ve been sold. I’ll never see them again. Those people robbed us good.”
The couple went to the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs and were referred to a lawyer. “The lawyer told us we had a right to live there, so we went back.”
But on May 13 the sheriff came again, with a revolver. “He kicked in our doors and broke our windows with the gun,” said Selina. “That day we ran. He told us we’d go to jail for six months if we ever came back.”
Last week their case was referred to the Land Claims Court. “The chances of the Land Claims Court finding in our favour are very, very good,” the Maarmans’ lawyer, Fagmie Cader, told the Mail & Guardian. “The Extension of Security Act is on their side. They’ve been living on the land more than 10 years and David Maarman is 65.”
Referring to the confiscated property, Cader said: “We feel very strongly some restitution has to be paid.”
Hilgard Matthews, representative for the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs, said it was clear the law had been broken. “The law protects long-term occupiers. Any eviction is illegal unless ordered by a magistrate. A change in ownership should not affect the tenure of the occupier.
“In the short term, we will try to get the people back on the land, and in the long term get their tenure secured. I hope it will be resolved in a few weeks,” Matthews said.
In response to questions about the matter, Van Zyl told the M&G: “[David Maarman’s] not a farm worker, he’s just renting. The story that he was born on the farm is nonsense. I offered him a job, but he refused to work for me. He told me, ‘I want nothing to do with you.’
“I’ve been battling now for 32 months, telling them I need my rent. I’ve given them more than 20 warnings. I’ve had lots of problems with them. I took the right avenues. All I did wrong was buy a farm.”
Asked whether it would make a difference if the couple were farm workers, Matthews said: “As long as the person stayed on the land with permission, that person has the right of tenure. The law in its entirety has been broken here.”
While the lawyers battle it out, the couple are moving from relative to relative. “I was born on that farm,” said David. “My children were born there and my relatives are buried there. Where must I go? That farm is who I am.”
“Our future has fallen in the mud,” said Selina. “It’s a huge, huge farm. Can’t they let two old people live in peace on it?”