Leasehold rights survive death, High Court rules

A land leasehold right granted under the Communal Land Reform Act of 2005 does not end with the death of the right holder and can form part of a right holder’s estate after their death, a High Court judge has ruled. In a judgement delivered in the Windhoek High Court on Friday, deputy judge president Shafimana Ueitele also concluded that a deceased estate and its executor have a stronger right to land over which a leasehold right under the Communal Land Reform Act has been granted than someone occupying the land without having a leasehold right. The judgement was given in a case filed by the executrix of the estate of Berthold Kandjimi, who was the holder of a 99-year leasehold right in respect of 2 543 hectares of communal land in the Kavango East region at the time of his death in October 2018.

The Kavango Communal Land Board granted the leasehold right in respect of the land to Kandjimi in January 2009. Kandjimi’s widow, Rosemary Kandjimi, who was appointed as the executrix of his estate after his death, sued Thimoteus Kativa, who had allegedly occupied the land over which her husband had a leasehold right. She alleged that Kativa had occupied the property without a leasehold certificate from the Kavango East Communal Land Board and a consent letter from the Shambyu Traditional Authority.