Three farmers from Beaufort West, who were beneficiaries of the state's land redistribution programme, have asked the Western Cape Division of the High Court to hold the Minister of Agriculture and some of her officials in contempt of court for ignoring an order restoring their possession of the land they have been farming on since 2017.

Three Beaufort West sheep farmers - left frustrated by land redistribution officials' alleged failure to comply with a court order to restore possession of their land - said on Thursday they would ask the court to jail the offending parties if they are found guilty of contempt of court.

The farmers, Joshua Bezuidenhout, his brother Herold Bezuidenhout and Jan Bergh were the beneficiaries of a land restitution deal. After receiving access to the land, they built up an award-winning wool co-op, Nuveld Farming Empowerment Enterprises. Other beneficiaries were also given the opportunity to farm but they soon abandoned the effort.

Then, in January and February 2024, the government grabbed two farms the company had been farming since 2017. Officials cut their locks and replaced them with others. They then gave access to the land to some of the beneficiaries who had since walked away.

The three farmers, represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), then went to court and obtained an order on 4 March 2024 ordering the minister and the officials, as well as two former beneficiaries who had been placed on the farms by the department, to restore possession of the land to the Nuveld farmers.

"Despite repeated...