Finally: Dumisa gets his farms back in SA

MBABANE—In a matter that has taken over a decade to settle, South Africa based businessman Dumisa Dlamini can now reclaim his status of being a tycoon and can now smile all the way to his farms and hotels.

Dlamini has recovered his E600 million worth of farms and hotel properties. Through this move, Dlamini has outwitted the banks and all other institutions that pulled him down in a boardroom wrangle that resulted in him losing his properties.

Even though Dlamini is a happy man now, he still has a mountain to climb in trying to evict all the people who bought his farms and hotels.
Dlamini’s farms were officially restored to him after years of fighting the South African institutions, following a court ruling that reduced him from the status of multi millionaire to an ordinary citizen.

The Department of Land Affairs, the office of the Master of the High Court and the office of the Registrar of Deeds have collaborated to complete a process of giving back his 14 farms.
These are the farms where Dlamini used to produce massive amounts of sugarcane, which he exported.
A letter authorising Dlamini to move back to his farms and properties was delivered to Dlamini on the June 4, 2009.
This letter came from the Registrar of Deeds Department of Rural Development and land Reform. According to the letter, “the liquidators Kleindoomkop must ensure that all the property that were placed under voluntary liquidation and interdicted are revested to the rellevant close corporation, in terms of court order under case no. 11320/2000, automatically then the said properties vest back to its lawful owner.”

 This correspondence followed a lengthy spell of hustling by the South African authorities, who were having a hard time in restoring Dlamini’s properties.
According to a memorandum written by the Registrar of Deeds P.E. Maseko to the office of the Master of the High Court instructing the release of Dlamini’s farms, Maseko said, “We refer to our three letters of correspondence dated 11/07/2008, 31/07/2008 and 11/08/2008. To date, there had not been any response from your office regarding the position as stipulated in the content of those letters.

We place on record that we have now (been) duly served by the Sheriff of the High Court with an upliftment order setting aside the liquidation. We are duly bound to comply with the order as served therefore restoration of the properties to the above close corporation (Klein-doornkop Broidery) should take place.”
The Registrar stated that it was noted by the liquidators on a letter dated July 8, 2008 that the interdict against Dlamini’s company must be cancelled.

“On perusal of the order of the Court, it is noted that the letter was issued in 2002 however the office of the Registrar of Deeds was only served with such an order in 2008. We enquire as to why the liquidators had not uplifted such an order when they should have acted as such (sic).

“At present our office is contaminated with numerous irregularities whereby we request your office to take up the matter with the irregularities, whereby we request your office to take up the matter with the liquidators concerned as to the manner they acted,” he states in the correspondence.