East London attorney wins long court battle to get his farm back

Roger Smith sold his land under the threat of expropriation. Nearly two decades later, he won it back, together with a scathing court judgment against the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.

- By Estelle Ellis

After a long legal battle, an East London attorney has won back ownership of a farm in Buffalo City (East London) that he was forced to sell to the municipality under the threat of expropriation.

The attorney, Roger Smith, bought Wembley Farm in 1985. In 1999, facing the threat of the property being expropriated for use as a municipal cemetery, he reluctantly agreed to sell it to the municipality for R670,000.

He was also paid a consolation fee of R35,100, removal costs of R5,000 and transfer duty of R43,700.

But the cemetery was never built. Left abandoned, the farm fell into disrepair.

"The house, outbuildings, reservoirs and other infrastructure ... have been vandalised and destroyed," noted Judge Mbulelo Jolwana in his judgment.

Smith first approached the court in 2008, arguing he had been coerced into the sale under a false pretext that the land had been designated for use as a cemetery.

When it was later found unsuitable for that use, he claimed the original agreement had no legal standing. That case was dismissed on the basis that his claim had prescribed, but he was granted leave to appeal.

The parties then tried to settle the case. The agreed terms of the settlement included that the ownership of the property would be restored to Smith if he paid the municipality R3.6-millionthe sale price plus interest.