Ngwenya and Others v Grow and More (Pty) Ltd and Others

The applicants are three families who have lived for generations on Farm 412 Kolwani in Mpumalanga. They are ESTA occupiers whose occupation historically included access to grazing land, potable water from a borehole, permission to maintain mud dwellings, and access for a school bus to collect their children. After the farm was acquired by the first respondent (Grow and More (Pty) Ltd), relations deteriorated. The respondents restricted school bus access, allegedly disabled a borehole supplying potable water, limited grazing rights, and obstructed repairs to dilapidated mud structures. The applicants brought an urgent application seeking interdictory relief to restore access to education, water, grazing, and the ability to repair their homes.

The interim interdict granted on 18 September 2025 was confirmed. The respondents were interdicted from obstructing school bus access, required to restore and maintain potable water supply, restrained from interfering with repairs to existing dwellings (excluding brick construction), and prohibited from interfering with the applicants’ existing grazing and gardening rights. Each party was ordered to pay its own costs.

The case affirms the Land Court’s willingness to grant urgent relief to ESTA occupiers where ongoing infringements of constitutional and statutory rights are shown, even after long delays. It underscores that continuous violations of dignity, access to basic education, water, and housing justify urgency, and clarifies the scope of interim interdictory protection available to vulnerable farm occupiers.