After a 13-year court battle, willing seller land owners will get fair compensation for their undervalued land
Government has finally admitted that the Valuer-General undervalued land belonging to 20 farmers by almost half of their worth.
The department of land reform and rural development has reached a settlement with landowners from Melmoth in KwaZulu-Natal in terms of which price to be paid for the land will be substantially more than that determined by government through government policy.
The farmers are set to receive a total R805 million for their land.
The Valuer-General had previously determined an amount of R420 million in terms of government’s formula for what constitutes reasonable compensation for land that is acquired for land reform.
The farmers are selling the land to the state voluntarily and previously agreed to a purchase price of R761 million.
Government, however, did an about-turn and said the purchase price should be determined by the Valuer-General, whose formula does not only take into account market value, but also other factors such as how the land was acquired, the need for land reform and what the land is presently being used for.
Last week, government abandoned its court case which sought to confirm the formula.
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