A Benoni farmer has asked the Pretoria High Court to enforce an order handed down in the Witwatersrand High Court to evict 6 000 families squatting illegally on his farm alongside Daveyton township.
After the order was handed down last year, the sheriff of the Benoni High Court told the 71-year-old farmer that he would have to pay R1,8-million so they could hire a security firm to remove the 40 000 squatters.
The respondents in the latest application are President Thabo Mbeki, the ministers of agriculture and land affairs, housing and safety and security, the commissioner of police, the sheriff of the Benoni High Court and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council.
The commercial agricultural sector sees the case in such a serious light that it has appointed a senior advocate, Gerrit Grobler, to support farmer Braam Duvenage’s legal action.
Annelize Crosby, director of legal and management services at AgriSA, said Grobler would convey to the court the farming community’s view on illegal occupation of farms, the importance of legal certainty and the effective execution of court orders.
This is the first instance of such large-scale squatting on a South African commercial farm.
Duvenage bought Modderklip in 1965. He produces maize, soya beans, sorghum and animal fodder. He has spent his life developing the farm for his sons Daan and Braam.
In May 2000 about 40 people began squatting on the property.
“I went to the police station and laid a charge of trespassing,” said Duvenage. “Then I arranged a meeting with metropolitan council officials and senior police officers at the court to try and iron out the problem in a friendly way.”
Eventually the squatters appeared in court. Some were convicted and others were remanded but never appeared again. “After two weeks I was called to a meeting with Modder B prison officials, who told me: ‘We’ve got bad news. The police can’t arrest any more squatters because the prison is full. We can’t accommodate them.’
“I think this was organised because from that day on the number of squatters kept doubling,” said Duvenage. “Today there are people squatting on 40ha, mostly Zimbabweans and Mozambicans. For their water supply they have illegally tapped into a pipeline in the Chris Hani settlement about 500m away. They have illegal electricity connections. I don’t know who is paying for all this.
“For food they pinch crops from the farm. Recently we traced 35 tons of maize worth about R70 000 stolen from our farm. We are being intimidated. There have been plenty of threatening phone calls. A few months ago a foreman was held up on the farm by 15 men with R5 rifles who stole his bakkie.
“We took the case to court and on April 12 2001 Judge Marais found in our favour with costs. But nobody can pay. We are more than R200 000 out of pocket. Now we are going to the Pretoria High Court to get the order enforced,” he said.
“The government are the overseers of this country. They must do it. As far as I am concerned I did my duty. I went to the police station, I met with all the authorities, I got a court order.
“The government must get the squatters off, or pay me out for the land. Actually, they need this farm for expansion because even if they remove the squatters, where will they remove them to? I can’t sell this farm on the open market. The value of the farm dropped because the authorities have not adhered to the court order.
“We can’t go on farming like this — just now something will happen and someone will be blamed,” said Duvenage. “I think this is worse than Zimbabwe. At least you know where you stand with Mugabe, who said he was going to take the farms. Here they take the farms and then the government ignores the court order.
“I am a good citizen. I have never been to court for assault or any such thing. There is no land claim against this farm. I bought it direct from the old Modder B gold mine. I have spent my whole life paying for this farm, now everything is going downhill.”
The hearing in the Pretoria High Court begins on September 17. Fanie Rossouw of Rooth & Wessels is acting for Duvenage.