N’Wandlamhari Communal Property Association and Another v Mathebula and Others

The dispute arose from long‑standing conflict over who is entitled to benefit from the restitution of the MalaMala Game Reserve. After the State purchased and restored the land in 2013, the Mhlanganisweni and Mavhuraka communities were amalgamated into the N’Wandlamhari Communal Property Association (NCPA). Members of the Mhlanganisweni Community contended that the Mavhuraka Community should not benefit as it had not lodged a restitution claim. Ongoing disputes about verification of beneficiaries, legitimacy of the NCPA’s executive committee, and authority to convene meetings resulted in multiple rounds of litigation. In June 2025, members of the Mavhuraka Community, styling themselves as ‘Concerned Beneficiaries’, purported to call an annual general meeting (AGM) of the NCPA for 19 July 2025. The Applicants urgently approached the Land Court to interdict the meeting, alleging it was called in breach of the NCPA constitution.

The fourteenth and fifteenth respondents were interdicted and restrained from holding the AGM scheduled for 19 July 2025 and from convening any other meeting of the NCPA other than in accordance with the constitution. The application was heard as urgent. No costs order was made between the Applicants and the First to Ninth Respondents, and costs as between the Applicants and the Tenth to Fifteenth Respondents were reserved for determination in the main action.

The judgment reinforces the centrality of compliance with communal property association constitutions in governance disputes and affirms the Land Court’s supervisory role in ensuring lawful administration of restitution entities. It also clarifies that pending restitution or governance litigation does not suspend ordinary constitutional requirements, while unlawful meetings may be interdicted to prevent irreversible harm.