Baphuting Bo Seleka Community v Barokologadi Communal Property Association and Others

The Baphuting Bo Seleka Community (applicant) and the Barokologadi ba ga Matoe Community (second respondent) lodged overlapping land restitution claims in 1996 over land known as Melorane. A mediation process resulted in a settlement agreement in 2002 under which the communities agreed to pursue a joint claim, relinquishing separate claims, and to share benefits through a central committee. Following a successful restitution, the land was restored in 2007 to the Barokologadi Communal Property Association (CPA), of which both communities are members. In 2015, during the reopened restitution claims period, the applicant lodged a new, separate restitution claim alleging prior dispossession and subsequently sought interlocutory and declaratory relief to interdict development of the land, assert interim access rights, and set aside the 2002 mediation settlement agreement.

The application for declaratory and interlocutory relief, including the setting aside of the 2002 mediation settlement agreement and the interdict against development of the land, was dismissed.

The case affirms the binding effect of the LAMOSA judgment on post-1998 restitution claims lodged during the 2014–2016 amendment period, confirming the lack of jurisdiction of the Land Claims Court to entertain relief founded on such claims. It also reinforces the application of the doctrine of undue delay in land restitution-related litigation and underscores the legal certainty afforded to mediation and restitution settlement agreements and to Communal Property Associations as vehicles for restored land.