(1) The Court may make any appropriate order, including—
| (a) |
granting urgent interim relief; |
| (c) |
an order directing the performance of any particular act, which order, when implemented, must remedy a wrong and give effect to the primary objects of this Act; |
| (e) |
an award of damages in any circumstances contemplated in this Act; |
| (g) |
making any arbitration award or any settlement agreement an order of the Court; |
| (h) |
requesting the Commission to conduct an investigation to assist the Court and to submit a report to the Court; and |
| (i) |
any other appropriate order which a High Court is competent to make, and which relates to a matter under the jurisdiction of the Court. |
| (2) |
If at any stage after a dispute has been referred to the Court, it becomes apparent that it would advance the finalisation of the case if some or all of the disputes between the parties are referred to mediation, the Court may, if the Judge President did not make an order contemplated in section 13(2)(b) stay the proceedings and refer the dispute to mediation in terms of section 29 of this Act. |
| (3) |
The Court may in addition to subsection (1) make an order— |
| (a) |
for the restoration of land, a portion of land or any right in land in respect of which the claim or any other claim is made to the claimant or award any land, a portion of or a right in land to the claimant in full or in partial settlement of the claim and, where necessary, the prior acquisition or expropriation of the land, portion of land or right in land: Provided that the claimant is not awarded land, a portion of land or a right in land dispossessed from another claimant or the latter’s ascendant, unless— |
| (i) |
such other claimant is or has been granted restitution of a right in land or has waived the right to restoration of the right in land concerned; or |
| (ii) |
the Court is satisfied that satisfactory arrangements have been or will be made to grant such other claimant restitution of a right in land; |
| (b) |
for the State to grant the claimant an appropriate right in alternative state-owned land and, where necessary, order the State to designate it; |
| (c) |
for the State to pay the claimant compensation; |
| (d) |
for the State to include the claimant as a beneficiary of a State support programme for housing or the allocation and development of rural land; |
| (e) |
for the grant to the claimant of any alternative relief; |
| (f) |
to determine conditions which must be fulfilled before a right in land can be restored or granted to a claimant; |
| (g) |
if a claimant is required to make any payment before the right in question is restored or granted, to determine the amount to be paid and the manner of payment, including the time for payment; |
| (h) |
if the claimant is a community, to determine the manner in which the rights are to be held or the compensation is to be paid or held; |
| (i) |
to give any other directive as to how its orders are to be carried out, including the setting of time limits for the implementation of its orders; |
| (j) |
in respect of compensatory land granted at the time of the dispossession of the land in question; |
| (k) |
to give effect to any agreement between the parties regarding the finalisation of the claim; and |
| (l) |
for costs as it deems just, including an order for costs against the State or the Commission. |
| (4) |
An order contemplated in subsection (3)(h) must be subject to such conditions as the Court considers necessary to ensure that all the members of the dispossessed community have access to the land or the compensation in question, on a basis which is fair and non-discriminatory towards any person, including a tenant, and which ensures the accountability of the person who holds the land or compensation on behalf of the community to the members of such community. |
| (5) |
The Court’s power to order the restitution of a right in land or to grant a right in alternative state-owned land must include the power to adjust the nature of the right previously held by the claimant, and to determine the form of title under which the right may be held in future. |
| (6) |
In making any award of land, the Court may direct that the rights of individuals to that land be determined in accordance with the procedures set out in the Distribution and Transfer of Certain State Land Act, 1993 (Act No. 119 of 1993). |
| (7) |
An order of the Court has the same force as an order of a court for the purposes of the Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act No. 47 of 1937). |
| (8) |
Any state-owned land contemplated in the Restitution of Land Rights Act, which is held under a lease or similar arrangement, must be deemed to be in the possession of the State for the purposes of subsection (3)(a): Provided that, if the Court orders the restoration of a right in such land, the lawful occupier thereof is entitled to just and equitable compensation determined either by agreement or by the Court. |
| (9) |
An interested party who is of the opinion that an order of the Court has not been fully or timeously complied with may make application to the Court for further directives or orders in that regard. |
| (10) |
Any direction or ruling made by the Court has the force and effect of an order of the Court. |
Older Persons Act, 2006
