A Mthatha traditional leader has lost a land occupation battle in the high court which also interdicted her from unlawfully evicting and destroying the properties of some residents of one of her villages.
Zimbane headwoman Nosizwe Maxhwele has been accused of trying to evict seven people from a piece of land at Bhongweni location, Phase 1 of the Zimbane administrative area in Mthatha.
Maxhwele has been in a bitter feud with Nomakhwezi Mtshizana-Base, Buyiswa Zwedala, Lindiswa Mbiko, Nobelungu Lumkwana – her children Lihleli Lumkwana, Lelethu Lumkwana and her boyfriend Mbambeleli Siwaphi – over the land on which they have built houses in Zimbane.
After the seven residents were instructed to vacate the land, they approached the Makhana-based Legal Resources Centre (LRC) earlier in 2018, a battle that continued until last week.
Maxhwele believed the residents had fraudulently obtained the sites after people were moved from Bhongweni Phase 1 to the new Maxhwele township in 2008.
In her affidavit, Mtshizana-Base said Maxhwele had instructed people to remove her perimeter fence and build a brick wall.
Zwedala said her plot was sold to someone who built a house on the same plot.
In court documents, LRC lawyer Cecile van Schalkwyk said Maxhwele informed the seven in March last year that they had to leave as the plots had been sold.
On July 31, the high court granted the seven an urgent interim order and interdicted Maxhwele and four members of her traditional council – Onke Nyathi, Vuyani Madubela, Thembisile Mkhanzi and Mteteleli Mkhohli – as well as contractor Sisa Manyadu from destroying the properties and evicting them.
And on Thursday, judge Clive Plasket granted a final interdict against Maxhwele, four members of her traditional council and a contractor working on her instructions.
The high court interdicted them from destroying the properties and unlawfully evicting the seven residents.
They were also interdicted from threatening and intimidating the seven residents and preventing them from accessing their properties. They have been ordered to restore undisturbed possession to the residents’ properties. The application was opposed by Maxhwele and other respondents.
But Plasket found that the respondents’ denial of the allegations against them was “woefully inadequate” and did not establish a genuine dispute of fact.
After the court ruling, Van Schalkwyk said the Zimbane case was an important case “in light [of] the abuses suffered by informal land rights holders at the hands of traditional leaders.
“The community of Bhongweni and in particular the applicants, had their homes and their informal land rights threatened by the unlawful actions of the respondents.
“They were effectively dispossessed of their rights in the land without any compensation and by people who themselves had no legal authority over the land,” she said.
Mthizana-Base is ecstatic about the case outcome.
“We are very happy that after so much humiliation that we had to suffer at the hands of the respondents, the court finally came to our assistance.
“We hope the case will show other traditional leaders, developers and contractors that they cannot simply evict people from Bhongweni without consequences. There are so many of these unlawful evictions happening in Bhongweni.
“People are losing their homes because of the greed of others who make money from building flats on the land from which they tried to evict us. They specifically target women-headed households or widows who struggle to defend themselves.
“We would like to thank the LRC, for helping us to make sure justice is served,” she said
Despite being joined to the proceedings, the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality did not participate in the case.
The court directed Maxhwele and other respondents to pay the applicants’ costs of the application. But, Siwaphi’s application was dismissed with costs.
Attorney Thanduxolo Qina, who represented Maxwhele and her committee members, said his clients would appeal the ruling...