The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has refused to grant the Ingonyama Trust leave to appeal against a far-reaching ruling that it cannot collect rent from those who live on trust land.
The court has ruled that all leases are now invalid and that minister Thoko Didiza, who “breached her duties”, reinstate the PTO policy and report back to the court every three months on progress.
They were threatened with “banishment” and told they were “turning against the king”. This was the evidence of how some people living on land belonging to the Ingonyama Trust were forced into signing lease agreements which were never properly explained to them.
The Ingonyama Trust has been ordered by the Pietermaritzburg high court to pay back the money it took from people living on trust land who it forced to sign leases.
The Ingonyama Trust has been found to have acted unlawfully and in violation of the constitution, by making rural community members sign leases for land that was rightfully theirs under Zulu customary law.