Erindi negotiations resume
The owners of the Erindi private game reserve and government representatives have resumed talks on the proposed sale of the park.
JANA-MARI SMITH
An urgent application brought by the owners of Erindi game reserve against the minister of land reform was cut short when government attorneys handed over critical documents minutes before proceedings began.
The urgent application was submitted to the High Court shortly after 14:00 on Thursday, in an attempt to force the Ministry of Land Reform to provide a detailed valuation report to Erindi’s owner, a request government has ignored since April.
Following the exchange of the long-awaited documents on Thursday, Judge Collins Parker postponed the case until 27 October.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the government and the owners of Erindi resumed on Friday, in an attempt to either agree on a selling price or to issue a waiver certificate.
Court documents show the Joubert family wants the government’s explicit consent to sell the property to a “foreigner”.
“The minister knows that there is no Namibian citizen that can afford to buy Erindi,” Paul Joubert states in the founding affidavit.
Paul Joubert, co-owner with Gert Joubert of the 65 000-hectare private game reserve in the Otjozondjupa Region, described futile attempts since April to obtain the detailed valuation reports from the Ministry.
In April, the Jouberts declined government’s offer to buy Erindi for N$265 million, an offer that was roughly N$1.635 billion less than the asking price of N$1.924 billion set by the Joubert family.
In the letter dated 15 April 2016, the minister of land reform, Utoni Nujoma, indicated that the government would not issue a waiver and was interested in buying the property, but that the asking price was too high.
“It is clear … that the respondent came to a ‘considered opinion’ that the amount of N$265 million was a ‘reasonable value’. Clearly the minister must have had a detailed valuation report or reports to determine the value,” Joubert states in the affidavit.
According to Joubert, government had been supplied with several evaluation reports that included a comprehensive list of immovable and movable property as well as the price earnings value of Erindi.
The Jouberts argue that the government’s purchase offer was based solely on the profitability calculations of Erindi as a running concern, and excluded the valuation of the immovable property, wildlife and various other assets.
“It appears as if the minister was wrongly advised, or only given a portion of the complete valuation report,” a letter by the Jouberts’ legal advisors stated last week.
The founding affidavit explains that “to force the applicant to attend negotiations in circumstances where the respondent is in possession of applicant’s valuation report, but the respondent does not want to give its valuation report to the applicant,” is in breach of the constitutional rights of the applicant.
“It amounts to unfair discrimination,” Joubert stated.
Should negotiations fail, the matter will be heard by the Land Tribunal, the lawyers indicated.
An urgent application brought by the owners of Erindi game reserve against the minister of land reform was cut short when government attorneys handed over critical documents minutes before proceedings began.
The urgent application was submitted to the High Court shortly after 14:00 on Thursday, in an attempt to force the Ministry of Land Reform to provide a detailed valuation report to Erindi’s owner, a request government has ignored since April.
Following the exchange of the long-awaited documents on Thursday, Judge Collins Parker postponed the case until 27 October.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the government and the owners of Erindi resumed on Friday, in an attempt to either agree on a selling price or to issue a waiver certificate.
Court documents show the Joubert family wants the government’s explicit consent to sell the property to a “foreigner”.
“The minister knows that there is no Namibian citizen that can afford to buy Erindi,” Paul Joubert states in the founding affidavit.
Paul Joubert, co-owner with Gert Joubert of the 65 000-hectare private game reserve in the Otjozondjupa Region, described futile attempts since April to obtain the detailed valuation reports from the Ministry.
In April, the Jouberts declined government’s offer to buy Erindi for N$265 million, an offer that was roughly N$1.635 billion less than the asking price of N$1.924 billion set by the Joubert family.
In the letter dated 15 April 2016, the minister of land reform, Utoni Nujoma, indicated that the government would not issue a waiver and was interested in buying the property, but that the asking price was too high.
“It is clear … that the respondent came to a ‘considered opinion’ that the amount of N$265 million was a ‘reasonable value’. Clearly the minister must have had a detailed valuation report or reports to determine the value,” Joubert states in the affidavit.
According to Joubert, government had been supplied with several evaluation reports that included a comprehensive list of immovable and movable property as well as the price earnings value of Erindi.
The Jouberts argue that the government’s purchase offer was based solely on the profitability calculations of Erindi as a running concern, and excluded the valuation of the immovable property, wildlife and various other assets.
“It appears as if the minister was wrongly advised, or only given a portion of the complete valuation report,” a letter by the Jouberts’ legal advisors stated last week.
The founding affidavit explains that “to force the applicant to attend negotiations in circumstances where the respondent is in possession of applicant’s valuation report, but the respondent does not want to give its valuation report to the applicant,” is in breach of the constitutional rights of the applicant.
“It amounts to unfair discrimination,” Joubert stated.
Should negotiations fail, the matter will be heard by the Land Tribunal, the lawyers indicated.
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