no more agricultural land for sa
06 February 2008

Appeared in the Volksblad, 06 February 2008, written by Philip de Bruin translated by Carni Hattingh from Phatshoane Henney inc.

No land in South Africa will be called Agricultural land because all the land falls under the jurisdiction of some municipality. This is because in an earlier decision by the Court of Appeal it was decided that land which falls under the jurisdiction of a municipality does not qualify as agricultural land.

If this is the case it means that various statutory requirements implemented by the Government to curtail fragmentation and wrongful use of land is of no consequence.

The requirement that the minister of Agriculture needs to give permission in order for agricultural land to be sold is thus not needed. The Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed this view in the case of Stalwo (Pty) Ltd v Wary Holdings (Pty) Ltd. This judgment is now being taken on appeal to the Constitutional Court.

The Volksblad