Legal process started to fight land claim in Pretoria East

15 October 2015

The legal process has started to counter the Lekhuleni land claim in the east of Pretoria. According to Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, CEO of AfriBusiness, this land claim – which may possibly cost the tax payer billions – has serious consequences for property security in this city. This is the reason for AfriBusiness acting on behalf of more than 800 landowners in the affected area.

The court ordered in August 2014 that the Lekhuleni land claim be accepted and duplicated. This follows a dispute over the validity of the claim between the Land Claims Commission and the Lekuleni community. “We believe that this verdict is incorrect, as many affected parties had no knowledge of either the claim or the court case,” Jansen van Rensburg says.

In January this year, residents of Pretoria were shocked when a land claim was submitted, covering a large area of the city. The claim, submitted by Victor Lekhuleni on behalf of his community, stretches from the University of Pretoria to Cullinan, and from Derdepoort to the area south of Mooikloof.

“In the past six months, AfriBusiness did research into the historic ownership of the land, as well as the history of the Lekhuleni tribe. Our research shows that there are no grounds for a legitimate claim.”

According to Jansen van Rensburg, the land claim process is becoming a farce. “At a public meeting of the Land Claims Commission in March this year, it was suggested that more than 20 other groups may possibly submit claims for the same area. It is physically impossible that so many contradictory claims can exist, and this indicates that fraud, corruption and misrepresentations are used to obtain millions from the tax coffers by way of land claims,” he says.

It is also unfair that landowners must oppose these land claims at their own cost and do not get any government support. On the other hand, government do pay the legal fees of the land claimants. This may lead to claimants targeting land owners to such an extent that landowners can no longer protect their property rights.

People who are interested in finding out whether their property is affected by the claim, may visit www.afrisake.co.za. A detailed map is available on the website.

Statement issued by Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, chief executive officer: AfriBusiness, 15 October 2015