21 April 2025
PRESS RELEASE
NO EMBARGO
AL JAMA-AH helps farm dwellers to have their human rights restored on the farm they are living in Paarl in the Western Cape:
Al Jama-ah Party has stepped in to implement a court order to restore the human rights and dignity of seven families living at Nantes farm on the R45 in Paarl in the Drakenstein Municipality, Western Cape. Despite the court ruling in 2022, the families’ continued to be unlawfully denied the right to have their vehicles access their housing precinct.
This followed the families’ three-year battle to have a court order executed which include that the Respondents, restore conditions on the farm to its position as it was previously.
The respondents, Mr Izak Spies, Ian Du Plessis, and Fynbos Landscapes PTY Ltd, have fenced off the property situated at Portion 7 of the farm Nantes, denying any vehicles –including emergency vehicles – access to the precinct of the families houses. They, instead ‘constructed’ a long, narrow, and uneven footpath which the families had to use to enter or exit the property.
This caused much harm to the families which include young children, elderly and disabled people. A tragic incident took place two years ago when a matric learner went into sudden labour at home and the paramedics were unable to reach the house and sadly, her newly born baby who was in need of emergency aid, has subsequently died. During the long and wet winter months, children are unable to attend school, as the pathway is often flooded. Three of the seven families own vehicles but they are forced to park their cars at the homes of relatives or friends on neighbouring farms.
The families approached the Stellenbosch Legal Clinic who took their matter to the Paarl Magistrate’s Court. The court ruled: “That the Applicant’s peaceful and undisturbed possession of the property, specifically their water and electricity supply to the structures they occupy on the property, their waste and sewage removal services on the property, situated at Portion 7 of the farm Nantes, number 499, Paarl, be restored to the position as it was before the Respondents disturbed such possession on or about 20 November 2021.”
But the Sheriff has failed to execute the order stating a lack of funds. In December 2024, following the Department of Social Development’s Community Dialogue with farmworkers, a request was made to the Deputy Minister Ganief Hendricks, to assist implementation of the court order. Deputy Minister Hendricks, brought Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso to Nantes to listen to the plight of the seven families.
In commemoration of Al Jama-ah’s 18th anniversary, the party, at its own cost, has instructed its attorneys to act by implementing the long overdue court order.
“Evictions and inhumane living conditions are tragic reminders of the harm caused by the Group Areas Act during the darkest days of apartheid in South Africa. What better contribution can be more made than by stopping an apartheid activity on the important occasion of AL JAMA-AH’s 18th birthday,” says Hendricks.
He is working around the clock to have the fence which was erected to prohibit vehicles access to the families’ homes, and the opening of the main gate on the farm. “This removal of the fence will take place before Freedom Day and Al Jama-ah will rally the surrounding farm communities to celebrate the freedom of the Nantes residents on Monday 28 April 2025,” says Hendricks.
The representatives of the seven families who took the matter to court, are: Francisca Dreyer, Pieter Carelse, Johannes Halvendo, Johan Swartz, Klaas Soutman, John Carelse and David Soutman.
Issued by Asghar Khan on behalf of Al Jama-ah
For media enquiries contact:
Nisa Hendricks
(Media and Marketing Manager)
Cell: 082 613 1917