Land expropriation
Q: My great grandfather had an estate in Durban from which they were forcefully evicted in 1972. My father also passed away in 1972. He was survived by his two brothers of which one passed away a few years ago. My paternal grandfather, who is now late, had many brothers and sisters of which two brothers and few sisters are living.
One of my paternal grandfather’s living brothers contacted the government some years ago to ask for compensation. The government sold this land recently for about 20 million Rands. The government decided to give us a gift of plus minus six million Rands in total, but did not know how to apportion it. They looked at the surviving sons and daughters of my great grandfather. In total, there are plus minus 34 shareholders.
In our scenario, my paternal grandmother is first in line since my paternal grandfather is late. She has one living son who is my father’s brother and no daughters. The government said that the money is a gift to all the living descendants of my great grandfather, but each one’s descendants should amicably agree to apportion their shares proportionately.
In my case, my father is survived by my mother, my brother and I. So, the government is giving about R200 000 each to my paternal grandmother, my father’s living brother and R200 000 to my mother, brother and myself and the last R200 000 to my father’s late brother’s family.
Initially, my father’s brother was not happy to give us the money saying that we do not inherit. However, due to pressure from all other shareholders, he decided to also make us party to the gift. Are we entitled to accept this gift from the government?