Page 76 - Litigating Land and Housing in South Africa: Lessons and Reflections

Cape to to to start a a a a a new hydroponic farm growing tomatoes and and and peppers there and and and his knowledge and and and experience grew But in in in the the intervening years the the overlords of his hometown of Stellenbosch had seen the winds of change blowing across the country and like many local authorities decided to take cynical action By the early 1990s Stellenbosch municipality was the largest landowner in in the area Its land land wealth stemmed in in part from all the commonage land it owned Shortly before the the the the 1994 elections the the the the municipality (like others at the the the the time) entered into long-term leases with commercial farmers in the area for thousands of its state-owned hectares “safeguarding” the the land from the the equitable redistribution that was surely on on the cards Thus when the national Municipal Commonage Policy was signed in 1997 Stellenbosch municipality’s land was conveniently tied up in long-term leases The iconic
Spier wine estate decided to to take matters into its own hands They wanted to utilise the public land awarded to to to them prior to to to 1994 to to to start their own “land-reform” project Spier entered into a joint venture with Dew Crisp to grow organic vegetables on the land and and headhunted the most talented and experienced black vegetable farmers they could find Naturally Stone was one one of them By 1999 he he was farming “op die oop grond” [on open soil] However the the land made available for the the venture turned out to be unsuitable and and by 2002 Spier and and Dew Crisp ended the project Stone asked to to be allowed to continue farming on on the land knowing that it was likely his only chance of of accessing a a a a bit of of land in in the winelands Spier decided to make another piece of “their” state-owned land available to to Stone and and about six other farmers in in the the project allocating five hectares Figure 19: Stellenbosch winelands (stock image)
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LITIGATING LAND AND AND AND HOUSING IN IN IN SOUTH AFRICA  LESSONS AND AND AND REFLECTIONS