Cape Town - Three Beaufort West farmers and land reform beneficiaries have approached the Western Cape High Court after waiting three years for a lease agreement from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD).
The three, Johannes Bezuidenhout, Herold Bezuidenhout and Jan Bergh, are suing the minister for failure to provide them reasonable access to land and are being represented in their fight for land rights by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC).
The trio were allocated farmland in 2009 through the state’s redistribution programme, but their application for a 30-year lease has yet to be granted.
They are also seeking to create a legal framework for land redistribution programmes to provide applicants with clear criteria and a transparent process.
The farmers said that when they were allocated the land it was a dream come true for the them as the children of farm workers from the area.
They said the opportunity not only gave them a chance to realise their passion for farming, but it also redressed discriminatory patterns of access to land which, under the apartheid regime, saw only white farmers owning land in the area.
The state’s redistribution programme was meant to ensure access to land on an equitable basis as required by section 25(5) of the Constitution.
This was to happen by making land available to individuals and groups that have historically been discriminated against on the grounds of race.
In 2009, DALRRD allocated five farms in the district, collectively known as Plateau Farm, to more than 80 beneficiaries. The trio were among these beneficiaries.
In their case against the minister, the three farmers said that by 2017 the other beneficiaries had left the farms but that they had established Nuveld (Pty) Ltd, an entity through which they farmed Plateau Farm, subject to a concession by DALRRD.
Their sheep farming operations became highly successful, with their wool obtaining the highest average price for the Beaufort West region at the national wool auction in Gqeberha in 2020 and 2023.
In December 2019, DALRRD placed a call for applicants for a 30-year lease over Plateau Farm in the newspapers Die Burger and The Courier.
Through their company Nuveld, the applicants applied for the lease, underwent an interview process and were recommended by the National Land Acquisition and Allocation Control Committee (NLAACC) as the preferred candidates for the lease.
However, in September 27, 2020, despite this recommendation, the acting chief director of Western Cape Provincial Shared Services, Lubabalo Mbekeni, took a decision to not award the lease to them.
The three farmers only became aware of the decision in the beginning of 2022, nearly 18 months after it was taken, as DALRRD had failed to inform them that their application was unsuccessful.
They filed an application last month asking the court to review and set aside Mbekeni’s decision.
They are also asking the court to compel DALRRD to give them the lease to ensure that they can continue to farm on the land for at least the next 30 years.