Developer must rebuild the Muldersdrift homes it destroyed

Despite a court ruling for a developer to rebuild the houses he demolished to make way for a luxury estate, the residents of Tilly’s Farm in Muldersdrift have little faith it will happen.

“The win means a lot to us since we have been fighting this war for so many years. But we are not sure whether the company will respect the court because they previously never did,” said Jimmy Kwapeng, one of the residents.

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The 40 year old said since his three-room house was demolished, he has been living in a shack.

“But the good thing about this ruling is that even if the company won’t rebuild our houses we now have land, so it will be easy to build ourselves.”

Developer found guilty

Dutch developer Arthur Bezuidenhout and his company MaxxLiving had been found guilty of civil and criminal contempt of court after failing to obey a 28 July 2022 ruling that ordered them to rebuild the brick houses they demolished to make way for luxury houses at the Country Gardens Estate in Muldersdrift.

The Land Claims Court’s original ruling required the developer to replace the demolished homes within three months, but he did not.

Bezuidenhout was also instructed to furnish the court with the company’s financial statements, tax returns and cash flow records for the past three years.

“The first and the second respondent deliberately defied the aforesaid court orders wilfully and maliciously and there has been both a civil and criminal contempt,” the recent judgment read.

“The court will hear the parties on the appropriate order in respect of the imposition of a penalty, including imprisonment, and if so for what period, or compel performance by the aforesaid orders or both on 13 August.”

Lerato Kgatla, 41, said after the demolition tragedy her family of 15 members were forced to sleep outside for three months.

Yesterday, Bezuidenhout denied committing any crime.

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“The 15 individuals in question were not victims of forced displacement as they willingly agreed to relocate, viewing us solely as a source of financial gain. I refute any insinuation of criminality.”

He did not indicate whether or not he would challenge the ruling. The affected families were represented by the Lawyers for Human Rights( LHR). Louise du Plessis, of LHR, said.

“This multinational developer took the law into their own hands. Their blatant disregard for human rights cannot be tolerated. Pleading poverty when the development is continuing is defiance of the court.

“We are pleased the judge demanded the company’s books be opened for scrutiny.”