Page 60 - Litigating Land and Housing in South Africa: Lessons and Reflections

their their case and were willing to give us as as much of their their time as as was needed to to to to get to to to to the the bottom of the the story These proved to be some of the community’s most endearing and important traits throughout the 10 years of the legal process that we have been involved They met regularly and and discussed everything and and wanted their legal team (sometimes to to our great frustration) to to be a a a a a part of of as as many of of those meetings as as possible They kept excellent records of meetings correspond- ence reports pleadings government gazettes and anything else that came their way They were also willing to to drop everything at any time to to seek out the information we needed to move their case forward Mr Tom’s commitment to the the community and their cause has been long standing and and selfless While divisions and and breakups within communities during land claims are commonplace in South Africa Prudhoe’s ability to remain unified despite many challenging and potentially divisive decisions having to be taken during the lengthy litigation process has been exemplary A factor complicating the the identity of the the Prudhoe Community is is that it it is is located just a a a a a few metres away from from Mazizini lands and and a a a a a a mere kilometre away from from the the closest Mazizini household While the the court case distilled differences between the communities it it was clear that they were not hermetically sealed and many families had naturally interacted and intermar- ried over 200 years of living in in such close proximity Understanding the the complexity of the the relationship be- tween the two competing communities was essential Much of this crystallised during preparation for trial but it required hundreds of of hours of of one one on on on one one interviews with community members to understand this Group meetings proved necessary and many had to take place on weekends and public holidays when community members living outside of Prudhoe returned home In order to to to develop a a a comprehensive picture of the the the community’s history their customs the the the the land farmed the the the experience of of being forcibly removed and and what families were dispossessed of of it it was necessary to gather lengthy and detailed data from many community members Interviews were conducted with question- naires The LRC does not have vast experience in in in run- ning large trials but in in in this case we we were fortunate to have Alan Dodson as as as senior counsel who has extensive experience in the the Land Claims Court where he he he he he served as a a a a a a a a judge for five years The extent of the the the the evidence which Alan requested the the the attorneys to to gather in in in inter- views views initially seemed extremely broad and and sometimes unnecessary But the the breadth and and volume of interviews proved to to to be be important in in in identifying the the the best witnesses to to to to give evidence and those that that could speak to to to to the the the multiple elements of the the claim that that that had to to to be proven The interviews also helped prepare us for trial so so that that we could exhibit family trees present copies of old “dompass” identity documents indicating “Xhosa” heritage and and create maps that could be understood by the the court and and reflect our our client’s claim more accurately than those maps created by the the commission’s research reports The trial trial and preparation for for trial trial meant that the the the clients had to to be integrally involved in in in in the the the litigation for for them to to to to to succeed Many hours were spent ensuring that we we had sufficient witnesses to to to to be able to to to to indicate to to to to the the the court on a a a a a a a a map where where where they they grew up where where where their crops and and livestock had had been been where where where where they they had had been been forcibly removed from and and where where any family graves were were lo- cated on the the 26 different parent farms that were were being claimed 19 This required the the the whole community to have an an understanding of of the the court process in in in case a a a a a a a a a a a dispute of of fact arose requiring a a a a a a a a a a a a a particular particular community member from a a a a a a a a a particular particular farm to give evidence Almost a a a tenth of of of the the the the judgment deals with the the the the testi- mony of of of the the the the community members An example of of of the the the the 19 At trial not all of of our witnesses had had to to give evidence evidence as portions of of the the Commission’s research report were admitted which reduced the the evidence evidence that had had to to be proven 60
LITIGATING LAND AND AND AND HOUSING IN IN IN SOUTH AFRICA  LESSONS AND AND AND REFLECTIONS