On their ancestral land
court, he said the respondents had intimidated him and taken other steps that suggested they intended settling other families on the farm. He also stated that the respondents had prevented him and his staff from going about their business on the property as wood vendors.
The residents opposed the application, arguing that the property was the subject of a land claim and that they were accordingly entitled to be on the farm as well as to effect improvements to accommodate the natural growth of the families occupying the property at that time.
Toulou claimed that the part of the farm where wood is collected and portion three, where the Mokwalakwala people live, had been invaded.
On October 18 Judge Jody Kollapen interdicted the residents from demarcating stands or allocating them to anyone, or constructing new structures, and from setting fire to any portion of the property or vehicles and any property belonging to Toulou.
He also interdicted them from disrupting the access and legitimate business of the applicant (Toulou) and to immediately restore his undisturbed possession of the area of the property affected by the alleged land invasion.
The remaining extent of portion 3 on Kort Hannie — where the families live — was transferred into Toulou’s name on February 1 2008.
Kollapen refused to grant an order for the demolition of unoccupied structures. He also said the application was not about evicting the occupants of the farm who, in terms of the law, could not be evicted without the written authority of the chief land claims commissioner if they had occupied the land in question before the commencement of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994.
In November the farm residents protested outside Toulou’s properties in Modjadjiskloof, demanding that he rebuild their demolished homes. They argued that the court never granted an order for any structure on the property to be demolished or that anyone be evicted.
As a result of this pressure Toulou made a commitment in an affidavit signed at Modjadjiskloof police station on 25 November: “I undertake to do a restitution of the evicted family of Mokwalakwala by building five (5) houses with effect from today the 25th of November 2018.”
He said the details of the structures, timeframes and other related issues would be discussed by the team appointed by the residents and included in an agreement to be completed and signed within five days.
In an undated memorandum of agreement, Toulou offered to build five houses measuring 500m2 to each of the families. The houses, to be built by March 2019, would be on land of 2500m2, to which the families would be restricted. The size of the entire farm is 2 500 hectares. He also undertook to install prepaid electricity boxes in the five houses. But the residents still have to make a decision about the proposal.
Toulou offered the families an eight-room house to use as temporary accommodation, but they have refused to take up the offer, citing the stringent conditions attached to the deal.
In the meantime, life for Maake and other residents continues to be a daunting challenge. Their furniture remains trapped under heaps of rubble. Some of the items they managed to salvage during the unlawful demolition of their homes are lying in the open, exposed to the rain and the boiling sun of the lowveld.
“Life is so hard now. We used to plough here and feed ourselves and our children. But we cannot do that any more because we don’t know what will happen to us tomorrow,” says Maake.
During the demolition of her house she lost R5 000 in cash, which she had saved up so that her family wouldn’t worry about burying her when she died.
“Even today my heart is still sore. I was telling my grandchildren that if I die tomorrow they must take me straight from the mortuary to the mountain and bury me. They must not worry about bringing my body back here because I have no house.” — Mukurukuru Media