The 6 000-strong Richtersveld community on the Cape West Coast moved a step closer to regaining the diamond-rich stretch of land they lost during the colonial era on Friday, when the Cape High Court ruled that records used in a parallel case could also be submitted as evidence.
”We brought an interlocutory application [in the Cape High Court] for the records in the Land Claims Court trial to be used to the extent that it was relevant and successful,” said Henk Smith, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), attorney representing the community.
Smith said the Richtersveld community had launched two parallel cases, one in the Land Claims Court and another in the Cape High Court. The high court litigation dealt with the recognition of the original ownership rights under common law.
In March, a full bench of five appeal judges unanimously overruled an earlier finding by the Land Claims Court that the community did not have a legitimate claim to the 85 000 hectares in terms of the country’s land reform legislation.
According to the appeal judgement, the Land Claims Court incorrectly found that the Richtersveld community lost all rights to the land when it was annexed by Britain in 1847 because it was ”insufficiently civilised” to be recognised.
Mining company Alexkor, which currently owns the land, has appealed the ruling and taken the matter to the Constitutional Court, where it is expected to be heard in September.
Community member Pieter de Wet, who was at the Cape High Court with his brother Willem and two other community leaders on Friday, said they were ”happy with the progress”.
Judge Nathan Erasmus also ruled on Friday that Alexkor must pay costs. – Sapa