Access to Electricity for ESTA Occupiers: TM Sibanyoni and Sibanyoni Family v Van Der Merwe and Any Other Person in Charge of Farm 177, Vaalbank Portion 13 Hendrina, Mpumalanga (LCC 119/2020) [2021] ZALCC 33 (7 September 2021)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2023/v26i0a15453

Keywords:

Access to electricity, Human dignity, ESTA occupiers, SDG 7, horizontal application of rights, property rights of private landowners

Abstract

This case note highlights the importance of access to electricity for occupiers under the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62
of 1997 (hereafter ESTA). More importantly, the case note questions whose responsibility it is to provide ESTA occupiers with access to electricity on farmland. Moreover, it will comment on whether the Land Claims Court (hereafter LCC) got the decision right (or not). Furthermore, it provides a comment on whether the right to human dignity in section 5 of ESTA requires a dwelling on rural or peri-urban land to have access to electricity. It will also comment on whether the Sibanyoni judgment was progressive (or not) and why. The conclusion is that access to electricity is essential in modern life to enjoy adequate living conditions. A dwelling without electricity
deprives an ESTA occupier of benefits such as utilising electric equipment, which is necessary for daily living. ESTA occupiers are unable to use stoves, which are crucial and safe for cooking. They are also not able to have lights, which are useful to deter criminality in their dwellings. Very importantly, ESTA occupiers' human dignity would be violated or denied to them by refusing to install electricity in their dwellings. The state therefore has a positive obligation to provide ESTA occupiers with access to electricity. Private landowners have only a negative obligation to refrain from impairing ESTA occupiers' right to access to electricity by not unreasonably refusing consent to have electricity installed by the state. The Sibanyoni judgment was progressive, among other reasons because it permitted an
ESTA occupier to have electricity installed on his dwelling without the consent of the private landowner.

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Author Biography

  • Lerato Rudolph Ngwenyama, North-West University

    Senior lecturer and Co-project leader for the Justice in Practice project in the Faculty of Law Research Unit, North-West University (NWU), School of Undergraduate Studies, Vanderbijlpark Campus, South Africa. Advocate of the High Court of South Africa.

References

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TM Sibanyoni and Sibanyoni Family v Van Der Merwe and Any Other Person in Charge of Farm 177, Vaalbank Portion 13 Hendrina, Mpumalanga (LCC 119/2020) [2021] ZALCC 33 (7 September 2021)

Legislation

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006

Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997

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Published

23-11-2023

Issue

Section

Special Edition: Land & Customary Law

How to Cite

Ngwenyama, L. R. (2023). Access to Electricity for ESTA Occupiers: TM Sibanyoni and Sibanyoni Family v Van Der Merwe and Any Other Person in Charge of Farm 177, Vaalbank Portion 13 Hendrina, Mpumalanga (LCC 119/2020) [2021] ZALCC 33 (7 September 2021). Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 26, (Published on 23 November 2023) pp 1 - 28. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2023/v26i0a15453

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