Out-of-court deal unlocks Tlokweng land raffle deadlock
Mpho Mokwape | Wednesday November 5, 2014 15:32
The land board will now automatically allocate plots to each of the 17 as long as they do not have plots anywhere given by the board.
The 17 went to court to challenge the allocation of 285 plots by the Tlokweng Land Board through a controversial raffle in 2012. The settlement of the dispute out-of-court may open a Pandora’s Box, as many people complained about the raffle.
“The land board says that the 17 applicants automatically qualify to be allocated plots but where do the rest of us stand as we were not on the list though we are part of this case,” asked a disgruntled Tlokweng resident.
During his address to the residents after the settlement the lawyer for the group of 17, Kabelo Nkwe, stated that legally, whoever was not cited in the court papers would find it difficult to get land under the agreement.
“As it stands, many are not cited in the court papers and the land board has made it clear that only those cited will be allocated plots.
“Others will have to go through the normal process of applying when the land board advertises,” he said.
During court proceedings, land board attorney, Tshaimo Motsumi said that the parties have agreed and decided to enter into an agreement to settle the matter out-of-court. He explained that the land board had decided not to pursue the matter further by deciding to allocate plots to concerned parties.
“The matter has been settled and we will request the court to make our agreement a court order,” he said. The court order states that the applicants shall apply to the land board for allocation of residential tribal land at the next set of allocations. It says that the appellants’ individual applications shall be considered in terms of the Tribal Land Act and the prevailing policy of the land board at the time of acceptance of applications. The land board is required to allocate land only to the applicants who qualify.
“Applicants shall not claim any relief from this Tribunal or any court or statutory body against the land board in respect of the plots and/or allocations concerned in this matter and this agreement settles all claims between the parties in relation to this matter,” states the order. Each party was ordered to bear it own costs.