those various items. In the plea it was specifically denied that the items were the defendant’s property of the plaintiff. It was furthermore denied that annexure was correct. “A” Both the ownership as well as the possession of items plaintiff’s defendant’s listed in annexure were thus placed in issue. These denials attracted no “A” onus upon the defendant. It was thus incumbent upon the plaintiff to establish both his ownership of the items and that the items listed in annexure were in “A” possession of the Namibian police. In the course of the trial, the defendant had admitted possession of items which were entered in the Pol 7 register, exhibit at the trial. “S” It was common cause that the Namibian police had seized those items at the plantation. But the defendant specifically put in issue that the items plaintiff’s set out in annexure reflected those seized by the Namibian police. In the “A” evidence, he could merely state that when he had returned to the plaintiff’s plantation, he had noticed that certain items were missing and stated that the missing items were those contained in annexure He was not however “A”. present when items were seized. It was also common cause that several of the items listed in annexure were not in possession of the defendant. Given the vindicatory nature of the “A” claim, the plaintiff would not be entitled to the return or to the value of items not set out in the Pol 7 form, being thus unable to establish the defendant’s possession of those items unless he could establish that the police had been in possession of such items and thus claim their value. This is quite apart from the difficulty the plaintiff would face in respect of establishing ownership of those items. At best for the plaintiff, in the event of the entries in the Pol 7 register being incomplete, Mr Haufiku in his evidence stated that the following items were recovered from the side of the plantation: plaintiff’s Lister pumping machine, serial No. R352; John Deere tractor engine, serial No. 282898 CD; Trailer, serial No. 17401/1970;
those various items. In the defendant’s plea it was specifically denied that the items were the property of the plaintiff. It was furthermore denied that annexure “A” was correct. Both the plaintiff’s ownership as well as the defendant’s possession of items listed in annexure “A” were thus placed in issue. These denials attracted no onus upon the defendant. It was thus incumbent upon the plaintiff to establish both his ownership of the items and that the items listed in annexure “A” were in possession of the Namibian police. In the course of the trial, the defendant had admitted possession of items which were entered in the Pol 7 register, exhibit “S” at the trial. It was common cause that the Namibian police had seized those items at the plaintiff’s plantation. But the defendant specifically put in issue that the items set out in annexure “A” reflected those seized by the Namibian police. In the plaintiff’s evidence, he could merely state that when he had returned to the plantation, he had noticed that certain items were missing and stated that the missing items were those contained in annexure “A”. He was not however present when items were seized. It was also common cause that several of the items listed in annexure “A” were not in possession of the defendant. Given the vindicatory nature of the claim, the plaintiff would not be entitled to the return or to the value of items not set out in the Pol 7 form, being thus unable to establish the defendant’s possession of those items unless he could establish that the police had been in possession of such items and thus claim their value. This is quite apart from the difficulty the plaintiff would face in respect of establishing ownership of those items. At best for the plaintiff, in the event of the entries in the Pol 7 register being incomplete, Mr Haufiku in his evidence stated that the following items were recovered from the plaintiff’s side of the plantation: Lister pumping machine, serial No. R352; John Deere tractor engine, serial No. 282898 CD; Trailer, serial No. 17401/1970;
Prins%20v%20The%20Government%20of%20the%20Republic%20of%20Namibia%20(I%201361-2004)%20[2013]%20NAHCMD%20259%20(2013).docx