A Church Applied to Buy Its Land in 2005. In 2022 a Court Stopped the Council Evicting It for Housing

• Saldanha Bay municipality tried to evict Uni-Faith Ministries in Vredenburg
• The council wanted the land cleared for a housing development
• The church had applied to buy the property as early as 2005
• The Western Cape High Court dismissed the eviction application with costs

A small church in Vredenburg, on South Africa’s west coast, has won a court fight to stay on land it had been trying to buy for years, the Cape Times reported in June 2022.

Uni-Faith Ministries worshipped in a prefabricated building on the property but did not own the land. Two days before Christmas 2021, the Saldanha Bay municipality served an eviction notice so that the site could be used for a housing development. “A contractor has been appointed and will start with the construction of the infrastructure within 2-3 weeks from date of this letter,” the municipality wrote.

Pastor Izak Roedolf said the church had applied to buy the property in 2005 but was told a ministerial moratorium prevented a sale. When it applied again in 2011, it learned the municipality had already acquired the land.

The Western Cape High Court dismissed the municipality’s application with costs. Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath found the council had failed to show that the church’s occupation was unlawful. “The municipality is obliged to act in good faith, in transparent manner and remains bound by its own processes,” she said. Roedolf was conciliatory: “The church looks forward to work with the municipality in the future, as the municipality was never seen or ever will be an enemy of the church.” Community activist Vernon Vraagom said: “I am of an opinion that someone must be held accountable for the spending of taxpayers money to evict the church.”

The case shows the risk a congregation takes when it builds and worships on land it does not own, even with long occupation and good intentions. A pending purchase application is not a title.

Many Jamaican churches are in the same position, meeting on family land, Crown land or council property under informal arrangements. The lesson is to pursue ownership or a written lease early, keep records of every application and payment, and get legal advice before the land is needed for something else.

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