Cape Town - The owners of Durbanville’s Altydgedacht wine estate have said they will meet a group of eight people who claim to be retired farm workers living legally on the farm after a long-running eviction saga which turned nasty last week with armed private security overseeing the bulldozing of workers’ houses on the farm.
The evictions on Thursday were brought to light by the co-ordinator of Ubuntu Rural Youth and Women, Wendy Pekeur, who went to the scene after she was alerted by Lena Harredien, one of the retired workers, that the house occupied by her family had been demolished.
Pekeur posted pictures of the demolished house on Facebook before removing them after coming to an agreement with lawyers representing the trustees of the Jean Parker Trust, which owns the property.
Pekeur said: “Somebody contacted me about Harredien’s eviction and then I learnt she had received a notice from the court to say the matter would be heard in the land claims court in Randburg in April this year.
“She was told that if she was unable to travel to the court she could use Zoom to participate in the proceedings. Of course, the problem with that is these are old people who don’t have smartphones or even know about Zoom.”
Pekeur, who called police to the incident, said she would be following up on the matter to see whether there had been any irregularity with the eviction notice because she said the court seemed to have granted an eviction order against Harredien without letting her state her case.
Reached for comment, farm general manager Debra Savage referred queries to the Trust’s attorneys, KJH Law.
Attorney Laura Light said the allegations made by the eight farm occupiers were defamatory and that the trust had properly instituted an application for their eviction.
She said the eight, who are part of a larger group of 80 people living on the farm, had previously lived with Harredien, who had retired from working on the farm.
“None of these individuals ever worked on the farm, for the previous owner, and none of them ever worked for us.”
She said the occupiers became a source of concern “because of their utter disregard for the farm rules, for the other occupiers of the farm, and the wholly unsanitary conditions in which they lived.”
Light said her client was forced to take legal action after several unsuccessful attempts to engage with the occupiers regarding the overcrowding and dilapidation of the property from 2018 to 2021 when the eviction application was instituted.
Regarding Harredien, Light said rather than be evicted, Harredien chose to move to a City house in Fisantekraal, registered in her name, and that on the day she moved, the farm manager assisted her by transporting her and her goods to the house.
She said that despite having been evicted, the eight occupiers had moved back into a dilapidated building on the farm that had been closed up.
“Security was called in to investigate whether the occupiers were there and, if they were, to remove them. They were informed by neighbours that the occupiers only went there to suip.”
She said the trust would meet the occupiers of the farm this week to discuss the situation with them in the hope of reaching a resolution.
“I want to make it clear that my client has not and does not intend to evict those occupiers of the farm who are there lawfully and who abide by the reasonable rules of occupation,” Light said.
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