The N’Wandlamhari Communal Property Association (NCPA) and the Mhlanganisweni Community instituted a main action in the Land Court seeking declaratory relief concerning who is entitled to membership of the NCPA and to share in the benefits of the MalaMala land, a high‑value property restored through the land restitution process. A dispute arose because the NCPA Constitution provides for both the Mhlanganisweni and Mavhuraka Communities to benefit, while the plaintiffs contended that only the Mhlanganisweni Community was entitled to membership and benefits as the Mavhuraka Community allegedly did not lodge valid land claims. During preliminary proceedings, the fourteenth defendant (concerned beneficiaries) raised points in limine, including that the NCPA had not properly authorised the litigation. The Court, in an earlier judgment of August 2023, held that the resolution relied upon by the NCPA (taken at a meeting on 9 March 2019) was invalid because the meeting was improperly constituted, having excluded Mavhuraka Community members. The plaintiffs then applied for leave to appeal against that finding.