Farm owner will fight landgrab

2005-09-22 15:55

Pretoria - The owner of the first South African commercial farm to be earmarked for expropriation said on Thursday he intended contesting the move.

"I do not recognise the (restitution) claim on my land and cannot be forced to sell at the government's price," said farmer Hannes Visser.

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights announced in Pretoria that an expropriation notice would be served on Visser without fail.

Visser owns the 500ha farm Leeuwspruit in the Lichtenberg district of the North West.

The planned expropriation followed two-and-half years of inconclusive negotiations on the value of the property - with Visser wanting R3m and the government offering R1,75m, said provincial land claims commissioner Blessing Mphela.

Validity of claim disputed

Visser said he had yet to receive official notice of the move, but has obtained legal advice.

He disputed the validity of the restitution claim, saying the original owners signed letters of purchase in 1942 and sold the land at market-related prices.

According to Mphela, initial owners Abram, Johannes, Thomas, Andreas and Joseph Molamu were dispossessed of the land through forced sale transactions under the apartheid government's racial policies.

But Visser said the move was about self-enrichment.

"They (the claimants) have no intention of returning the money they received for the property. They want the land and to keep the money."

Visser said he had made improvements to the value of R3.5m since he started farming on the land in 1994.

The farm was bought by his father Frans in 1968, and has been in the family ever since.

"Should the courts turn out to be my final recourse, I will go that route," Visser said.

Descendents to get land

The land is to be returned to the descendants of the original owners of the Leeuwspruit group of farms in terms of a claim lodged by Messrs. M Molamu and J Moropa.

Mphela said Visser, who owns the fourth, outstanding property in the group, initially wanted R6m for the land. The government's R1.75m offer was based on the assessment of an independent valuer, and was the amount the seller could expect to receive in the open market.

Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza approved the commencement of expropriation about a week ago.

Mphela underlined the need to fast-track South Africa's land reform process.

Mphela could not say if further expropriations were in the pipeline, but did not foresee this becoming the norm for land acquisition in the country.

Visser incident sets a precedent

Farmers' union Agri SA said it appeared the government was seeking to make an example of Visser.

Should Visser be correct on the invalidity of the claim, it would mean the minister was acting beyond the scope of her powers, said land affairs spokesperson Annelize Crosby.

The union also believed that alternative avenues have not been exhausted.

Visser's offer to sell his land but retain the abattoir business appeared to be a fair compromise that has not been fully examined, Crosby said.

"We are not against expropriation, but it has to be the last resort," she added.

- SAPA