The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) welcomes the settlement reached between Kleinfontein Share Block and the Tshwane Metro, which has just been confirmed by the High Court in Pretoria and made an order of court.
These developments mark the end of a to-and-fro legal battle in the courts between the community and the Metro after yet another ruling was made against Kleinfontein two years ago regarding the fact that the process of formalising Kleinfontein into a town had not yet been properly finalised.
Hurter Spies, the law firm of the Freedom Front Plus’s mayoral candidate in the Tshwane Metro, Willie Spies, acted as Kleinfontein’s legal representative in the matter.
The community was also continually supported by Freedom Front Plus councillors.
The settlement provides that Kleinfontein will submit a formal new township establishment application to the Metro by 31 August 2026 and that the application will then be considered in accordance with the rules and regulations applicable to township establishment.
The Metro’s earlier decision to levy punitive rates in respect of municipal taxes on Kleinfontein has also been set aside in terms of the settlement, and municipal rates are now levied depending on the use of the relevant properties as residential or commercial properties.
The settlement underlines the fact that no crisis is too great to overcome and that there is room for all communities to express themselves within the boundaries of the Metro.
As a cultural town, Kleinfontein has the right to exist and to conduct its affairs within the framework of the South African constitutional dispensation, which recognises the right of cultural communities to pursue self-determination and to establish civil society institutions.
The settlement is good news for all Metro residents committed to peaceful co-existence and promoting diversity.
