Farmer locks out land claim beneficiaries in defiance of court order

Applicants refused access to the land

- By Setumo Stone

A white farmer has effectively cocked a snook at a court order to grant black beneficiaries of a land reform project access to their farms after he locked them out in a dispute that harks back to apartheid South Africa, where control was asserted by changing locks and erecting fences.

At the centre of the conflict over the Nietverdiend farms is a motorised gate erected on a dusty road by farmer, Petrus Coenraad Boshoff, and his company, PC Boshoff Ondernemings to deny Billy Lekau and his ground access to the farms. On October 17, North West Judge President Ronald Hendricks ruled that Lekau and his team were in possession before the locks were changed and ordered their immediate restoration.

Yet, they remain locked out.