SA farmer cries foul

[RedViking]

An aspiring farmer is accusing the Gauteng agricultural department of supporting his neighbour in a litigation which he claims is aimed at coercing him to sell his property to the same neighbour.
Abion Nkosi has alleged that he realised only later, about seven years ago, after occupying the farm that is a portion of Farm Nooitgedacht in the Muldersdrift area of Mogale City Municipality, that a development project known as Crane Valley Country Lifestyle Estate had been approved before he bought the farm.
There was, however, no documentation the developers could show to prove that the previous owner had consented to the development.
An environmental impact report on the planned development consists of a list of 18 farming portions, including Nkosi’s.
It is explained in the same document that “Crane Valley Estate will mainly consist of residential 1 type of housing and will include activities such as agriculture, horse trails, a nature reserve and staff accommodation”.
Nkosi said he only learnt about all this months after taking occupation of portion 142 of Farm Nooitgedacht in 2011.
“After occupying the farm, my family started using the available space to store some of the materials for the telecommunication business as well as trucks.
"A foundation was also dug for building new staff quarters and two security guardhouses were built, but we only learnt later that these could not be done without the approval of the authorities and for this our neighbour took us to court for contravention of [the National Environmental Management Act], something we never knew about,” he said.
“My family was ordered by the court to demolish two newly built guard houses, remove any other materials and trucks not related to farming and stop any other construction. It took some time before we fully obliged, although we did in the end, but now my neighbour has taken us to court again for contravening a court order in relation to the delay.”
City Press has seen a November 22 2012 letter, signed by then agricultural MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, explaining that the family was indeed contravening the act and that the department inspectors had established that all this was happening on half of the eight-hectare property.
"The MEC further warned the family that failure to comply could see them “liable to a fine not exceeding R5 million or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or both…”
Nkosi said he was surprised because there was a different picture on the ground.........

Read more here: City Press

 

[grok]

Lol..

 

[ForceFate]

“Initial investigations led to the compliance notice being issued on the basis that an illegal activity had been commenced with. Further investigation and more information being provided showed that there was indeed no illegal activity commenced with.”

The department went on to open a criminal case against the family even after they had complied with the court order, amid some delay, and removed all unwanted material, demolished guard houses, removed rubble and halted intended construction.

“The criminal case was opened on the basis that an illegal activity had been commenced with, until further information revealed otherwise,” Gumede said.

On why the department approved an estate development plan which included Nkosi’s property without verifying if he had given consent, Gumede said:

“The proponent/applicant/developer [Bruce Finnemore] did not disclose that he did not own portion 142 as required procedurally in the environmental impact assessment application process. This is material misinformation.

“Only once the Mkhonza Family Trust [of which Nkosi is a part] complained to the department of the action by the developer did the department become aware that the developer did not own the land in 2008; that portion 142 belonged to a different owner, who sold it to the new owners [the trust] in 2011.

Someone didn't do his job somewhere. Furthermore, Bruce may have been trying to pull a fast one.

 

[upup]

My sister stay on a plot and the neighbor started to run a big noisy smelly business, now to get him to stop it, he bribes.

 

[Lew Skannen]

This is a typical indication of what people can expect from land reform / EWC. The poor will get land, but they will never be sure of ownership. If cadres need land, or money goes under the table to officials, the poor will lose their land and they will be removed. Only difference between this matter and EWC, in a year or so it will just be a lot easier to get rid of the poor and sort cadres under the guise of EWC.

 

[ForceFate]

This is a typical indication of what people can expect from land reform / EWC. The poor will get land, but they will never be sure of ownership. If cadres need land, or money goes under the table to officials, the poor will lose their land and they will be removed. Only difference between this matter and EWC, in a year or so it will just be a lot easier to get rid of the poor and sort cadres under the guise of EWC.

How did the family obtain the land?

 

[Lew Skannen]

How did the family obtain the land?

He bought it. It will have the same consequences for every person buying a property in South Africa in future. The land will never be yours and you will stand to lose your investments on the property or land at any time. When a cadre wants a piece of land, and they want yours, yours will be expropriated without compensation and given to the cadre. This is how corruption works.

 

[ForceFate]

He bought it. It will have the same consequences for every person buying a property in South Africa in future. The land will never be yours and you will stand to lose your investments on the property or land at any time. When a cadre wants a piece of land, and they want yours, yours will be expropriated without compensation and given to the cadre. This is how corruption works.

But wasn't it the developer that attempted to pull a fast one here?

 

[noxibox]

The land will never be yours and you will stand to lose your investments on the property or land at any time. When a cadre wants a piece of land, and they want yours, yours will be expropriated without compensation and given to the cadre. This is how corruption works.

So the way it works in the US then.

 

[konfab]

So the way it works in the US then.

Eminant domain requires that the state pay market value.

American courts have held that the preferred measure of "just compensation" is "fair market value," i.e., the price that a willing but unpressured buyer would pay a willing but unpressured seller in a voluntary transaction, with both parties fully informed of the property's good and bad features.[17] Also, this approach takes into account the property's highest and best use (i.e., its most profitable use), which is not necessarily its current use or the use mandated by current zoning if there is a reasonable probability of zone change.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain_in_the_United_States

You would never hear hate speech like that uttered in a court here in the People's Republic of South Africa.

The expropriation issue the US has is the seizure of criminal property by the police. That loophole is rapidly closing though.

 

[ponder]

But wasn't it the developer that attempted to pull a fast one here?

Withe the help of politicians, there will be kickbacks involved...

 

[ForceFate]

Withe the help of politicians, there will be kickbacks involved...

Yeah, of course there's always a politician involved. It's to be expected. Politicians are highly corruptible lot.

However, my point stands.