No appeals lodged in conservancy judgement

JANA-MARI SMITH

As the court-ordered deadline for removing fences and vacating illegally occupied land in the Na#Jaqna Conservancy inches closer, none of the 22 respondents in the case has yet lodged an appeal.

Ten respondents last week notified the conservancy of their intention to appeal the High Court decision in the Supreme Court, despite the fact that the deadline for an appeal was 11 October. So far, none of the respondents has lodged the appeal.

In the landmark September decision, High Court Judge Shafimana Ueitele ordered a group of 22 illegal settlers to vacate the land and remove fences within two months of the judgment.

The battle by the local San community to force out illegal settlers had been dragging on for close to a decade, and the High Court judgment was seen as a precedent-setting moment for the conservancy.

In a press statement, members of the Na#Jaqna conservancy management committee said the judgment had restored what is “rightfully ours and sends a strong message to all exploited communities in Namibia”.

The community said they would not be intimidated by the unhappy respondents and would report any attempts at intimidation to the police and their lawyers.

“We are of the opinion that their appeal is out of time,” Willem Odendaal of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), who has worked on behalf of the conservancy for a decade, said yesterday.

“However, if they were to go ahead and submit their appeal, they would need to ask for condonation from the judge,” he explained.

Odendaal explained that even if the respondents filed an appeal, the court order instructing them to vacate the land and remove fences would remain in force.

“This can only be done with permission of the court, since it is already a court order, so only the court can decide how this order can be stayed, motivated by reasons for requesting this by the applicants.”