Malamala price ‘still to be negotiated’

An affidavit by Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti on the state’s intended purchase of the MalaMala Game Reserve makes it clear the purchase price will be negotiated with the owners based on figures presented to the Land Claims Court.

Mr Nkwinti was reported to have already settled to pay the owners the full market price of R1bn, creating fears that the deal could set a benchmark, making future land restoration unaffordable. MalaMala is an upmarket game reserve in Mpumalanga.

In the Land Claims Court last year, state valuer JJ Steyn put the land value of the 13,184ha at R30,000/ha (R395m), while a valuer called in by the owner put it at R72,000/ha (R949m).

The Mhlanganisweni community asked the Constitutional Court for an order for the land to be returned to them, and for the minister to pay the game reserve owners R460m in compensation. The community has been trying for years to reclaim the land.

The Land Claims Court ruled that restoration of the land to the community of 15,000 people would not be feasible, prompting them to approach the Constitutional Court.

Mr Nkwinti said in his explanatory affidavit on July 16 that he had taken the decision to buy the land with a view to achieving land redistribution, one of the objectives of the constitution.

He was seeking to have the application by the community to the Constitutional Court removed from the roll.

“I pray the honourable court to remove the matter from the roll on August 13 to enable the parties to settle it. Negotiations are at an advanced stage between the state and the claimants, which would then culminate to an ultimate agreement on the purchase price between the state and the landowners,” Mr Nkwinti said in the affidavit.

The intention of the state was to reach agreement with the landowners before August 13, he said. The owners valued the land at just over R900m, excluding improvements of R66m.

The court has not made a decision on the minister’s request.

Mr Nkwinti had previously supported last year’s judgment of the Land Claims Court.

He said the position of the government was that financial compensation to claimants did not address land redistribution.

In many instances, it had been difficult to address land redistribution because the market value of the land sought for redistribution was extremely high.

He said Parliament was in the final process of passing legislation for the establishment of the office of a valuer-general, which would influence the determination of the market value of land to be expropriated under the land redistribution programme.

Mr Nkwinti said he had also decided the state would purchase the improvements at MalaMala and that the claimants would form a partnership with the operator of the reserve.

The Mhlanganisweni community, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights, said it supported the removal of the matter from the court roll on condition this was for a short period, to enable claimants to negotiate with the owners over future land use.