SEDGEFIELD NEWS - In 1999, the then Sedgefield council – which was subsequently absorbed into the Knysna municipality – decided to expropriate a piece of land from a certain Dr J van der Merwe, and, per the archives, notice was duly given to Van der Merwe, also informing him that he would be compensated for the ground.

The expropriation was never recorded in the deeds office, however, and no expropriation notice or proof of compensation could be found. The property was never transferred to the council. After Van der Merwe's death in 2009, his deceased estate sold the property to a development company, New Line Investments 44 (Pty) Ltd ("New Line"), and this transfer was duly recorded in the deeds office.

OWNERSHIP DISPUTE
In 2016, New Line applied to erect a storage unit on the site. The agenda item reports that discussions commenced, with the municipality disputing the ownership of the property. In September 2016 it became apparent that the Sedgefield cemetery was running out of room. To this end the municipality cleared a section of the land registered to New Line and effected a burial upon it.

When New Line became aware of this, they requested the municipality stop all activities on the property. They approached the high court to obtain an interim order, interdicting and restraining the municipality from entering the property and expanding the cemetery, until and if the municipality was actually declared the owner of the property and could control it.

The report contained in the agenda then continues to state that the municipality decided not to oppose the application, as they did not have the necessary environmental authorisation to lawfully embark on the expansion of the cemetery.

SINGLE GRAVE ALLOWED
Prior to the order being obtained, New Line sent correspondence indicating that they would be prepared to waive the conditions of the court order in respect of the single grave on the property, to allow it to be incorporated into the existing adjacent cemetery. The order was taken against the municipality on November 4, 2016 and no exhumation was required.

In January 2017, a roundtable discussion was held between the parties and the report states that no amicable solution could be reached. It is recorded that New Line’s attorney Adriaan Venter advised the municipality that, should they proceed to the high court to request a declaratory order, they would be wasting ratepayers’ money and that, even if their application succeeded, New Line would do everything to ensure that the municipality would not get permission to extend the cemetery on that ground.

The report then states that, prior to the meeting, the council obtained a letter from the late Van der Merwe, which, they contended, clearly shows that he acknowledged that the ground had been expropriated and that he had been compensated.

What is not clear is how this letter came to light. The municipality conveyed the contents of the letter to New Line via their attorneys, requesting New Line to agree to the transfer of the property to it at no consideration, and that the costs related to the transfer to be for the account of the company.

PROPOSAL REJECTED
It is recorded that New Line rejected the municipality’s proposal out of hand and confirmed that they would oppose any attempt by the municipality to proceed to lay claim to the land, on the basis that no title was registered and no expropriation was concluded.

That the matter will be contested is clear. The recommendation adopted by the mayoral committee is that a declaratory high court order be sought and the process commence. This will result in the municipality becoming once again embroiled in an opposed high court matter.

The land in question, as many locals will know, is the plot adjoining the development known as Aviemore Security Village.

Knysna-Plett Herald has asked the municipality whether they have identified any other land for the purposes of effecting burials, should the application not succeed. What has also been requested from both the municipality and the company's attorneys, is an estimate of what this exercise could cost the ratepayers. At the time of going to press no comment on either issue had been received.

The agenda and decision to proceed with a high court application were noted at an ordinary council meeting on August 11.

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