Erindi already has waiver
The legal representative of Erindi Private Game Reserve has submitted startling new evidence in the High Court.
ELLANIE SMIT
New evidence has come to light in the court battle between Erindi Private Game Reserve and government over the pending sale of the 65 000-hectare game farm.
Documents were presented to the High Court last week during a status hearing between the two parties. They showed that Erindi had been issued a certificate of waiver in 1999 already.
The documents were presented to court by lawyer Sisa Namandje, who is representing Erindi in the case.
This can entirely change the course of the sale of Erindi, as the main bone of contention has been the certificate of waiver.
According to the status report filed by Namandje on Thursday, settlement negotiations between the parties have been ongoing since 16 October this year.
He said Erindi gave a comprehensive settlement proposal to the land reform ministry through the government attorney and the offer was rejected.
“In the meantime Erindi has discovered that it has been labouring under the impression that it did not have a waiver, when in fact on 6 October the minister of land reform, in terms of section 16 of the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act of 1999, had actually granted a certificate of waiver.”
According to the waiver document it was issued by the then lands minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana for Farm Erindi no.58 and Farm Constantia no. 60, which together make up Erindi Ranch Pty.
Namandje said when the certificate of waiver was issued, it was not time bound and was therefore a permanent one. An amendment limiting the duration of such waivers was made to the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act after 1999.
He said the new information would be made available to the lands ministry in due course through the government attorney.
“In view of the fact that a certificate of waiver has been the main bone of contention between the two parties, it will facilitate further settlement negotiations between the parties,” said Namandje.
He therefore requested on behalf of Erindi that the matter be postponed to the end of March next year to submit a settlement proposal together with the government.
Erindi first launched legal action against the lands minister in October 2016. In the initial lawsuit filed it filed then, it asked the court to order the land reform minister to hand over all valuation reports the minister relied on to make an offer to buy Erindi for N$265 million.
The company also asked the court to declare that the minister had acted in breach of his constitutional duty to act fairly, reasonably and in compliance with the law when he made the offer to buy Erindi for N$265 million.
It further wanted the court to order the minister to provide the company with a letter consenting to the sale of Erindi to a non-Namibian buyer.
In an amended application, filed at the High Court last year June, Erindi wanted the court to review and set aside the minister's offer to buy the company for N$265 million.
Erindi also applied for an order declaring that a written agreement exists in which the government bought the company for N$1.92 billion.
Alternatively, it wants an order declaring that the minister had declined the company's offer to sell to the government, and that Erindi is now entitled to a waiver in terms of which the agricultural land it owns can be sold to a private buyer.
It further wants the court to declare that Erindi is entitled to market and sell itself as a going concern – also to non-Namibian potential buyers.
New evidence has come to light in the court battle between Erindi Private Game Reserve and government over the pending sale of the 65 000-hectare game farm.
Documents were presented to the High Court last week during a status hearing between the two parties. They showed that Erindi had been issued a certificate of waiver in 1999 already.
The documents were presented to court by lawyer Sisa Namandje, who is representing Erindi in the case.
This can entirely change the course of the sale of Erindi, as the main bone of contention has been the certificate of waiver.
According to the status report filed by Namandje on Thursday, settlement negotiations between the parties have been ongoing since 16 October this year.
He said Erindi gave a comprehensive settlement proposal to the land reform ministry through the government attorney and the offer was rejected.
“In the meantime Erindi has discovered that it has been labouring under the impression that it did not have a waiver, when in fact on 6 October the minister of land reform, in terms of section 16 of the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act of 1999, had actually granted a certificate of waiver.”
According to the waiver document it was issued by the then lands minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana for Farm Erindi no.58 and Farm Constantia no. 60, which together make up Erindi Ranch Pty.
Namandje said when the certificate of waiver was issued, it was not time bound and was therefore a permanent one. An amendment limiting the duration of such waivers was made to the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act after 1999.
He said the new information would be made available to the lands ministry in due course through the government attorney.
“In view of the fact that a certificate of waiver has been the main bone of contention between the two parties, it will facilitate further settlement negotiations between the parties,” said Namandje.
He therefore requested on behalf of Erindi that the matter be postponed to the end of March next year to submit a settlement proposal together with the government.
Erindi first launched legal action against the lands minister in October 2016. In the initial lawsuit filed it filed then, it asked the court to order the land reform minister to hand over all valuation reports the minister relied on to make an offer to buy Erindi for N$265 million.
The company also asked the court to declare that the minister had acted in breach of his constitutional duty to act fairly, reasonably and in compliance with the law when he made the offer to buy Erindi for N$265 million.
It further wanted the court to order the minister to provide the company with a letter consenting to the sale of Erindi to a non-Namibian buyer.
In an amended application, filed at the High Court last year June, Erindi wanted the court to review and set aside the minister's offer to buy the company for N$265 million.
Erindi also applied for an order declaring that a written agreement exists in which the government bought the company for N$1.92 billion.
Alternatively, it wants an order declaring that the minister had declined the company's offer to sell to the government, and that Erindi is now entitled to a waiver in terms of which the agricultural land it owns can be sold to a private buyer.
It further wants the court to declare that Erindi is entitled to market and sell itself as a going concern – also to non-Namibian potential buyers.
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