A Cape Town widow was on Friday granted an order forcing the state to pay R359 000 towards the legal costs of fighting her land claim. The order, handed down by Land Claims Court judge Shenaaz Meer, requires the Land Claims Commission to pay the money in April next year to the Legal Resources Centre, which is acting for 66-year-old Isabel Florence.
The funds will be spent on counsel and experts in a trial that begins in Cape Town in December. Florence, a former textile factory worker, is claiming restitution or compensation for the loss of her late husband Lionel's family home in 1970 as a result of the Group Areas Act.
The home was in the Black River area of Rondebosch, which was declared a white group area in the 1960s. The site of the building is now occupied by a medical centre in Klipfontein Road, opposite the Red Cross Hospital. Mr Florence, a diabetic, died earlier this year.
He had rejected the commission's offer of R40 000 as compensation for the property. Restitution legislation requires the commission and the Legal Aid Board to assist parties with legal representation in land claims court litigation. The two bodies initially turned down the LRC's applications for funding, the commission claiming its budget for the year was exhausted.
However, after Mrs Florence launched her challenge to this decision, the commission agreed to Friday's order that the money would be paid over in 2010, a month after the start of the new financial year. Mrs Florence said in an affidavit that if she was not able to secure effective representation, including advice and evidence from expert witnesses, the trial would not be fair.
She said the matter was so complex that it was impossible for her or her family to present it effectively by themselves.
iafrica.com
No comments:
Post a Comment