Court orders family of deceased farmworker to leave Stellenbosch farm home

The Western Cape High Court has ordered the family of a deceased farmworker to vacate their home on a farm in Jamestown, Stellenbosch, by August 14, after ruling that they are unlawfully occupying the property.

Judge Pinda Njokweni granted an eviction order in favour of GVV Investments, the registered owner of the property, and farm manager Gerd-Volker Vierhaus, under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation of Land (Pie) Act.

The respondents, Ivy Klaas, the widow of the late George Klaas, and Charl Adon Klaas, opposed the application, arguing that the house had been allocated to George as part of his employment with Friesland Farm, where he worked from 1996 until his death in December 2021.

According to court papers, after George’s death on December 5 2021, the applicants issued a series of written notices terminating the family’s right to occupy the property and instructing them to vacate.

The first notice was served in March 2022, followed by a second in April 2022 and a final notice before eviction proceedings were instituted.

The applicants argued that the family’s continued occupation was unlawful, that the house was urgently needed to accommodate current farm employees and that the respondents had been given more than three years to secure alternative accommodation.

Court papers state that Ivy and George met Vierhaus in Knysna in 1995 while George was doing weekend gardening work at his holiday home. Impressed by George’s work, Vierhaus offered the couple employment and accommodation on a farm in Stellenbosch.

George relocated first in 1996, shortly after the birth of their son, with Ivy and the baby joining him six weeks later. The family was provided with a three-bedroom house on the farm. Ivy worked on the farm until 1999, when her employment ended.

In opposing the eviction, the Klaas family raised three main arguments. They claimed that a previous eviction matter in the Stellenbosch magistrate’s court was still pending, alleged they had been induced to relocate based on an oral promise that they would eventually own the house, and argued that they faced severe financial hardship and disability, leaving them at risk of homelessness if evicted.

However, Njokweni found that the family’s right to occupy the property arose solely from George’s employment and automatically ended when he died.

While the respondents claimed Vierhaus had led them to believe the property would one day be theirs, the judge said they failed to provide any evidence supporting the alleged agreement.

“No date, place, terms, witnesses or consideration are pleaded, nor is any documentary proof produced,” the judge said.

He further noted that Vierhaus was not the registered owner of the property and had no legal authority to promise or transfer ownership of land belonging to another party.

Njokweni found that the applicants had complied with the requirements of the Pie Act and that no valid legal defence had been established.

“Accordingly, I find the respondents to be unlawful occupiers of the premises,” he ruled.

The court ordered the family to vacate the property and remove all their belongings by 3pm on August 14.

If they fail to comply, the sheriff, assisted by the SAPS if necessary, has been authorised to carry out the eviction.

In an unusual closing remark, the judge reflected on the role of legal practitioners, saying lawyers should advise clients when litigation has little prospect of success.

He noted that had Ivy Klaas been fully advised of the weaknesses in her case, she might have used the proceeds of an Allan Gray policy payout to secure alternative accommodation for herself and her children instead of pursuing the matter in court.

The court ordered each party to pay its own legal costs.