Roger Smith sold his land under the threat of expropriation. Nearly two decades later, he won it back — and a scathing court judgment against the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
An East London attorney has, after a long legal battle, won back ownership of a farm in Buffalo City (East London) that he was forced to sell to the municipality under the threat of expropriation.
The attorney, Roger Smith, bought Wembley Farm in 1985. In 1999, facing the threat of the property being expropriated for use as a municipal cemetery, he reluctantly agreed to sell it to the municipality for R670,000. He was also paid a consolation fee of R35,100, removal costs of R5,000 and transfer duty of R43,700.
But the cemetery was never built. The farm, left abandoned, fell into disrepair.
“The house, outbuildings, reservoirs and other infrastructure … have been vandalised and destroyed,” noted Judge Mbulelo Jolwana in his judgment.
