Count fights government in court over family home

By Patrick Burnett

A long-running dispute between an Italian count and the government over the ownership of a historic building in Muizenberg comes to a head in the Cape High Court on September 9, when the matter is set down for trial.

At stake is the ownership of the now-closed Natale Labia Museum in Muizenberg, which was donated to the government in 1985 by Count Natale Labia. Labia is now demanding that the museum, a 20-room Venetian manor built by his father and overlooking False Bay, be returned to him.

At the heart of the case is ownership of the land and building, with Labia maintaining that since the building and its contents were donated for use as an art museum, it’s closure was in breach of contract and the property should therefore be returned to him by the Department of Public Works.

But other issues also form part of the case. These include:
Compensation for the sale of an adjacent piece of land next to the Natale Labia Museum which was sold for R50,000 and later resold, together with other land, for R950,000. Labia is asking for compensation of R900,000.

Compensation for the loss of an 18th Century painting by James Stark. How exactly the painting was lost is unclear, but it’s disappearance was discovered when the collection housed in the museum was returned to Labia after the closure in 2004.
Interviewed in late August, Labia said the museum and contents, which included valuable paintings, had been given to the government in 1985 on the understanding that it would be used as a museum, to be maintained by the then South African National Gallery. This was replaced by Iziko Museums.

“It was soon apparent that they were not spending the funds required and in 2004 the museum was formally closed by a council decision of Iziko Museums and confirmed by the Department of Arts and Culture,” he said.

He said because the government had “renaged on the agreement” that it should be used as a museum indefinitely, there was no reason why it should be maintained by government.

“The court case is to return the property to my ownership,” he said. The museum was built by Labia’s father and he lived in the house during his teenage years in the 1930s.
Although the Department of Public Works failed to respond to queries about the property, it appears that the disappearance of the James Stark painting is less of a sticking point.

In a statement, Iziko Museums pointed out that the dispute between the Labia and the Department of Public Works did not involve Iziko, nor were they “party to nor was anyone at Iziko aware of the sale of the small adjacent piece of land by the Department of Public Works”.

After the closure of the museum, Iziko said all moveable property had been “formally returned” to Labia, with the missing James Stark piece only coming to their attention later.

Iziko said the last record of the work was when it had been moved from the South African Gallery back to the Natale Labia Museum in 1988, prior to the opening of this museum.

“A lapse of nearly 20 years and many changes of staff have made any definitive conclusion as to what transpired nearly impossible.”

But under the circumstances, Iziko said it had accepted responsibility and agreed to compensate the Count accordingly.

However, a decision on fair compensation was being negotiated.