Former Oshakati mayor Katrina Shimbulu has lost the fight to retain a 4007.3421 hectare farm in the Kunene region, which she bought on auction in 2019.

Shimbulu asked the court to grant her leave to petition the Supreme Court over the eviction order which was granted against her on 6 June.

However, deputy Judge President Hosea Angula said the orders granted were made because she failed to pay the purchase price of the farm within the stipulated period as per the sale agreement. He said the orders that Shimbulu sought to appeal are final in nature. 

“The sale agreement entered into between the applicant and the deputy sheriff has been final and effectively cancelled, and cannot be revived. Similarly, the eviction order is final, and not of interlocutory nature,” he stated before dismissing the application and striking the case from the court roll.

In June, the former mayor suffered another legal blow when the court refused to rescind its own judgement of 6 June, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

In that application, Shimbulu claimed the court never gave her an opportunity to be heard before it granted the eviction order and sale termination agreement.

Court documents show that on 19 June 2019, farm Jannie No. 365 was sold to Shimbulu by the deputy sheriff of Outjo at a public auction, on behalf of Standard Bank, in respect of a writ of auction. 

The farm was previously owned by Willem Groenewald and Christina Groenewald. Shimbulu claimed to have paid a total of N$711 000 to the deputy sheriff of Outjo for waiver and commission for the sheriff after signing the agreement, and subsequently took ownership and possession of the farm.

She claimed to finance the purchase of the farm, and applied for a loan with Agribank. But the bank failed to release the “financial guarantees” – leaving her unable to make final payment to Standard Bank.

She furthermore accused Agribank of sabotaging her after it allegedly refused to release the ‘Financial Guarantees’ which they had confirmed qualified and approved, and the loan agreement was signed thereupon.

Shumbulu represented herself in the matter, while Patrick Kauta stood for Standard Bank.

- mamakali@nepc.com.na