The Land Court has declared the eviction of three members of a farmworker’s family from a Free State farm unlawful and has ordered that their demolished home be rebuilt within one month.
The judgment, handed down on April 22, 2025, comes after Acting Judge Diana Mabasa found that the eviction of Manyaka Calastine Khiba, Malitaba Alina Khiba, and Tefo Johannes Khiba from Quaggafontein Farm near Ficksburg on November 6, 2020, was not in accordance with the law.
The court found that the Khiba family members were lawful occupiers under the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 (ESTA) and had not been properly cited in the earlier proceedings initiated under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE).
According to the court judgement, the proceedings were initiated by landowner Stephanus Francois van Niekerk and his company, Michael van Niekerk Eiendomme CC.
The eviction had been authorised by the Ficksburg Magistrate’s Court in respect of only one individual—Malefane Isaac Khiba—yet it was carried out against additional family members who had not been included in that application.
The Land Court, which sits in Randburg, found this to be irregular.
“The eviction of the First, Third and Fourth Applicants on 6 November 2020 is declared unlawful,” reads the judgment.
In its findings, the court restored the rights of residence and land use to the affected applicants in terms of ESTA. This includes access to their original homestead site and use of the land as it was allocated before the eviction. It also directed the restoration of services and amenities the family had previously enjoyed.
These included the right to collect wood, access water, graze livestock, and benefit from other informal arrangements that had existed during their tenure on the farm.
Judge Mabasa further ordered the landowner and his company to rebuild the residential home that had been demolished during the eviction.
“The First and Second Respondents are ordered to take such steps as are necessary to reconstruct the demolished residential home within one month from the date of this order,” the court ruled.
The applicants were also granted the right to claim compensation for movable property that was damaged during the eviction, either by agreement with the respondents or through further determination by the court. However, no compensation was granted for the loss of cattle.
“There is no order in respect of compensation for the loss of cattle,” stated the judgment.
The Land Court did not make any findings in favour of the second applicant, Malefane Isaac Khiba, who had been the only person cited in the initial PIE proceedings.
The judgment illustrates the broad jurisdiction of the Land Court in matters where tenure security is at stake and emphasises the rights of farm dwellers to fair legal processes, particularly under ESTA.
The loss of shelter and access to basic necessities during a period of national vulnerability—the COVID-19 lockdown—was not mitigated by lawful procedure, and the court considered the remedies necessary to restore dignity and lawful tenure.
The ruling provides for the applicants to return to their home and re-establish their lives on the farm, with all rights previously enjoyed being reinstated.
In addition to the restoration of land use, residence, and compensation for damage to movable property, the respondents were ordered to pay the applicants’ legal costs.
“The First and Second Respondents are directed to pay the Applicants’ costs of suit, jointly and severally, the one paying the other to be absolved,” the court stated.
Note: the story was updated to correct information that was erroneously included in the previous version.
