Mpumalanga High Court hands suspended 3-month sentence to Lowhills Farm occupants
Parys company Shofeeds secures eviction order as sheriff and police prepare to clear property by September 30.
The Mpumalanga Division of the High Court has sentenced Johan Möller and Sonell Joubert a suspended three-month sentence for contempt of court.
The urgent application was heard before Acting Judge Maboku Mangena on Tuesday. Lowhills Farm, located on the Strijdom Block Road, belongs to Parys-based company Shofeeds (Pty) Ltd. Shofeeds, represented by Adv Johnna Kruger, had requested direct imprisonment for Möller and Joubert after they failed to vacate the farm following an earlier eviction order issued on August 4.
While Mangena rejected the request for immediate incarceration, he imposed the suspended three-month sentence alongside a costs order against Möller on a Scale C party-to-party tariff.
The ruling clears the way for Shofeeds to execute the eviction order, which gives Möller and Joubert until September 30 to vacate the property. Under the court order, if the couple does not leave voluntarily, the sheriff of the court, assisted by the SAPS, will forcibly evict them from the farm.
Court rejects rescission application
During the same urgent hearing, Möller – represented by Adv Hennie van Rensburg – submitted an application to rescind a 2024 vexatious litigant judgment previously issued against him.
Mangena summarily struck the application off the roll for lack of urgency and awarded costs against Möller in favour of Shofeeds. Shofeeds originally purchased Lowhills Farm at a liquidation auction. The occupation dispute extended to High Court interdicts concerning Tswale, an educational interaction elephant owned by Joubert.
Prior murder charge falls away
In February 2025, Joubert was arrested following the stabbing death of Jurgens Nel on Lowhills. She claimed self-defence after reporting that Nel had breached a protection order.
After being granted R15 000 bail by the High Court in May 2025, the murder charge against her was struck off the roll by the Tonga Magistrate’s Court in September 2025 due to unreasonable prosecution delays in completing investigations.
When Möller attended Joubert’s initial bail hearing in February 2025, he was arrested on a contempt warrant linked to the Shofeeds eviction dispute. He subsequently avoided a three-month sentence by paying an R80 000 fine.
