A Limpopo businessman’s dream of creating jobs in Groblersdal went up in smoke after the Zion Christ Church (ZCC) won a court battle to evict him and stop him from building a lodge on a piece of land they both don’t own.
Rachidi Maboe’s appeal against an order granted by the local magistrate’s court for him to vacate the land he had occupied to build a lodge was dismissed with costs by the Limpopo High Court on May 15. The matter between Maboe, the appellant, and the ZCC, the respondent, was heard on February 28.
Before delivering his judgment, Judge M Naudé-Odendaal stated that the magistrate Ngobeni handed a judgment on March 22, 2024, ordering Maboe and other people occupying portion 13 Farm Klipbank, Masakaneng, to vacate the property on or before May 31, 2024, failing which, the sheriff was authorised to evict them on or after June 3, 2024.
The injunction, said the judge, further interdicted Maboe and all those occupying the property through him from taking occupation of the property after being evicted.
This was after the ZCC applied for the eviction of Maboe and others and interdicted them from occupying the property, which the church wants to use as a place of worship.
He said the ZCC, Africa’s biggest church, submitted that it has a clear right in that the premises in question was allocated to it since 2017 by Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality through a council resolution.
The resolution decreed that the church should be liable for erecting the fence on the property. It also decreed that building any structure on the land should be done in accordance with the National Building Regulation and Building Standard Act, among others.
“Despite numerous meetings having been held between several branch members of the respondent and the appellant in Groblersdal, the appellant persisted that the property belonged to him. During 2019, the appellant proceeded to insert poles on the property as proof of ownership of the land,” Naudé-Odendaal wrote.
The church, said the judge, did not have any other alternative remedy but to approach the court, as an amicable solution could not be reached.
In opposing the church’s bid to evict him from the land, Maboe submitted that the ZCC had no locus standi to bring the application because the aforesaid property was allocated to it by the municipality.
However, the municipality is not the owner of the property but the national government is.
“It was therefore submitted that the municipality was not the owner of the property and further had no authority to allocate or lease out to the applicant, and on such basis the application stood to be dismissed.
“The appellant further submitted that the subject matter falls under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, Act 19 of 1998, which the respondent clearly sought to ignore by bringing this application for an interdict,” stated the judge.
The judge added that Maboe also stated that he was given the land in the year 2010 by the Masakaneng Development Forum and has been occupying the property since then.
He also said Maboe claimed that he fenced the property and planted trees on the land.
The judge further said that Maboe argued that the local court erred and misdirected itself in finding that the municipality has the power to alienate land belonging to the national government.
According to the judge, Maboe also argued that the land can only be alienated by the registered owner, the national government.
Maboe also stated that Ngobeni erred in finding that the church has complied with the administrative and procedural aspects of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE Act).
The ZCC argued that the act could only protect from eviction those who use the occupied land for residential purposes.
Dismissing Maboe’s appeal, the judge agreed with the church that the businessman lives in Groblersdal and not on the property.
“By a lodge being built, it is this court’s understanding that the appellant intends on using the property for business purposes and the appellant himself does not reside at the property but at a different address in Groblersdal.
“It is clear from a reading of the PIE Act’s preamble and the definitions that the PIE Act is applicable to buildings utilised for residential purposes and not business purposes. In the present matter, the property is not occupied for residential purposes, and therefore, the PIE Act is not applicable.
“It then does not matter whether there was indeed compliance with Section 4(2) of the PIE Act or not and whether the court a quo erred in its reasoning in this regard by stating that there was indeed compliance. The eviction, therefore, falls under the ambit of the common law,” Naudé-Odendaal wrote.
The judge also said it was not in dispute that the church does not own the land but is merely a holder of a permission to occupy issued by the municipality.
“It is, however, clear that the respondent has a right to possess the property and is the person in charge of the property; therefore, the court a quo correctly found that the respondent has the necessary locus standi to bring the application for eviction,” the judge wrote.
The court found that Maboe only stated that he was awarded the land by Masakaneng Development Forum but failed to attach proof of title or permission to occupy the property.
“In the result, the court a quo correctly found in favour of the respondent by granting the application as prayed for in the notice of motion.
“The appeal, therefore, stands to fail,” he said, dismissing the appeal with costs.
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