High Court intervenes to restore farmer's access after unlawful eviction.
The Northern Cape High Court has ordered a company and its director to immediately restore a former farm owner's access to two farms near Kenhardt after finding that he had been unlawfully deprived of possession of the properties and his home.
In a recent judgment, Judge Mpho Catherine Mamosebo granted an urgent spoliation order in favour of Andries Swart against Gariep Systems (Pty) Ltd and its director, Frederick Mark Slemeck, ruling that the respondents had unlawfully excluded him from the farms Warmbad Noord and Warmbad Zuid.
A spoliation order is a court order that immediately restores someone's possession of property or rights after they have been unlawfully dispossessed.
The dispute arose after Swart sold the farms to Gariep Systems in 2024. According to the court, the sale was accompanied by a management agreement that allowed Swart to continue living on the property without paying rent for the remainder of his life, unless the agreement was lawfully terminated. In exchange, he would provide management services to the company.
