Durban - The Ingonyama Trust has suffered a legal setback after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed its application for leave to appeal a high court ruling regarding lease agreements on trust land.
The application was dismissed, with costs, on the grounds that there were no reasonable prospects of success.
However, in a statement issued yesterday, the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) indicated its intention to challenge the SCA ruling over what it termed a “glaring error”.
In June last year, the Pietermaritzburg High Court found that the Ingonyama Trust’s residential lease programme was unlawful and called on the trust to repay the money it had charged tenants on trust-owned land from 2012.
The matter stems from a legal action mounted by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), the Rural Women’s Movement and seven informal land rights holders, represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), in which they challenged the compulsory signing of lease agreements by the ITB.
The Ingonyama Trust was established just before the first democratic elections in 1994, and administers about 2.8 million hectares of land owned by Zulu people with the king as the sole trustee of the land. The ITB administers the affairs of the trust and the land.
Land falling under the trust has come under sharp focus in recent times with suggestions that the structure should be disbanded to pave the way for individual land ownership.
The LRC said yesterday it welcomed the SCA’s decision.
LRC director Sharita Samuel said that while they were pleased, they were equally aware that there could be further challenges.
“We do not consider the matter as finalised, but we are encouraged by the SCA ruling.
“We believe that it is important to give space to Ingonyama Trust for them to study the judgment and consider their next move,” said Samuel.
She added that they were prepared to exhaust all legal avenues available in order to ensure justice for their clients.
“We will do all we can to ensure that our clients’ rights to land ownership are protected,” the LRC director concluded.
In a statement on its website, the LRC explained that the trust and ITB had introduced an argument, in their application for leave to appeal, that acting KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Isaac Madondo and the late Judge Jerome Mnguni ought to have been recused from adjudicating the high court case as they had property on land held by the Ingonyama Trust, thus creating the potential for bias.
“The ITB applied for the matter to be referred back to the court a quo to be heard by judges from outside the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Division.”
The LRC said it had argued that the allegations of bias did not satisfy the test for recusal, and nothing alleged by the applicants could constitute grounds for the automatic disqualification of the judges in question.
“On this basis, it was argued that the application lacked any prospects of success.”
Casac executive secretary Lawson Naidoo said: “We hope that this is the end of the attempts by the Ingonyama Trust and its board to frustrate the ruling of the high court, and that (Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development) Minister (Thoko) Didiza can now implement the remedial action ordered by the court.”
In a statement issued yesterday, the ITB said the appeal court had issued an “unprecedented order”. It raised certain issues which it called “strange”.
“Ingonyama Trust did not petition the SCA for leave to appeal since leave to appeal was already granted by the Pietermaritzburg High Court in March, 2022. None of the parties was present in court when the court gave its order as none was invited to appear in court.
“The record of the case is still being prepared, and it is not clear how the court was able to deal with the matter without a complete record. Ingonyama Trust has instructed its lawyers to follow up on this matter and get the correct facts,” the statement read.
The ITB was expected to be one of the agenda items when King Misuzulu kaZwelithini met with the Zulu royal family members yesterday.
Royal house spokesperson Prince Thulani Zulu said the meeting would start late, although he could not give the exact starting time.
When asked for comment following the SCA ruling, the prince said it would be premature as they had not seen it or received any update. “Ingonyama Trust is an independent structure, so my advice would be for you to call them regarding the matter,” Zulu said.
| Additional Reporting Mercury Reporter