Riding school contests Constantia land restitution

“In no way do we not back the land claim proceedings… We are saying that the government needs to do the right thing for everybody,” said Belinda Thom, chairwoman of the SA Riding for the Disabled Association (Sarda).

Dout Sadien bought three portions of land from the subdivided Sillery Estate in 1902, farming fruit and vegetables for sale at the market in Cape Town and selling seeds to Starke Ayres nursery.

Sadien died in 1921, his wife Fatima died 35 years later and in 1958 their five sons bought the land from Sadien’s estate for R22 000.

But in 1961 Constantia was declared a whites-only area and the brothers were forced to move.

Jacob Badenhorst, a manager at Groot Constantia, bought the land on public auction for just over half the amount the brothers paid for it five years earlier.

In 1981 Badenhorst sold the farm to Yamiv (Pty) Ltd, of which his son Frederick was a director.

Yamiv, although notified of the land claim in 1999, sold the property in 2003 to Jazz Spirit 12 (Pty) Ltd, which planned to develop it.

Badenhorst’s son Hein is a director of Jazz Spirit 12.

In June 2005, the owners were granted permission to develop the property.

It soon became the subject of a land claim, culminating in the Sadien family being awarded 10ha of alternative land in Constantia.

But it later emerged the land described in the court’s order was 2.6ha, prompting the family to return to the Land Claims Court to ask for clarification.

The court’s order was amended to award the family a piece of land spanning 8.9ha, located in a prime part of Constantia.

The only difficulty was part of the land was being used as a paddock for a riding school for the disabled.

Sarda, which provides free riding classes to 200 pupils from special needs schools in Cape Town, has occupied the land for the past 31 years.

Last month Sarda app- roached the Land Claims Court to ask for leave to appeal against the decision to award the land on which it operates to the family.

Sarda’s argument is there was a belief the land was vacant when the court awarded it to the family.

However, it said it is the lawful occupier of the land, has effected improvements to the property to the tune of R3.45 million and the award threatens its existence.

The leave to appeal application was refused on March 31 and Sarda is now in the process of petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Thom said Sarda was prepared to take the matter as far as it could legally, but was searching for alternative premises in the event it did not succeed in the courts.

The first prize for Sarda would be to remain on the land in Constantia, but if that wasn’t possible the government should come up with alternative land.

fatima.schroeder@inl.co.za