Fury over land claim escalates
"This fake chief and king are already selling portions of the land for R500 to R2 500, but do not give title deeds after the purchase, which shows it is not their land,"
The Kromkrans Land Claim Committee (LCC) and its members have expressed dismay at how their land claim has been handled and have accused the Albert Luthuli Municipality of failing to intervene in the matter.
The committee told the Highvelder that in 2004 the LCC bought portion 61 of Kromkrans 208 from the Boetie Botha Trust for restitution to descendants of black farm-dwellers forcibly removed from the farm in 1970.
A member of the committee, Mr Lucky Gwebu, explained that in that year, then Minister of Agriculture Thoko Didiza committed to transfer the land to the descendants, but that has yet to materialise and none of the descendants have been allowed to return to the land.
He further alleged that the failure to transfer portions of the purchased land has resulted in two people emerging and claiming to be traditional leaders of the land in question.
They are Chief Mhlongo of the Mhlongo Traditional Authority and King Bungane III of Amahlubi-Royal Kingdom of Embo, of whom, they say, the Mpumalanga Provincial House of Traditional Leaders has denied any knowledge.
The Highvelder is awaiting confirmation of this claim.
“This fake chief and king are already selling portions of the land for R500 to R2 500, but do not give title deeds after the purchase, which shows it is not their land,”said Mr Gwebu. Another member of the committee, Mr Themba Shabangu, raised his concern about people building houses and liquor retail stores on land zoned for agriculture.
“The farm has not been rezoned nor proclaimed a township. People are using their hard-earned money to building permanent structures which will have to be demolished as soon as the land is transferred to the rightful owners. What will happen to their investments then?” he asked.
He also lashed out at the Albert Luthuli Municipality for failing to take decisive action against the people violating the National Building Standards Act, who are building houses on the farm without proper building plans.
Mr Shabangu added that they had informed the Municipal Manager, Mr Vusi Nelson Mpila, about the problem, but he has to date not acted on the matter.
“Officials from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and the LCC have been informed of the illegal occupations, but have done absolutely nothing, except passing the buck,” he said.
Members of the committee have also reported the illegal sale of land to the Breyten Police who took their statement.
The investigating officer said he also required a statement from DRDLR to confirm ownership of the land, but to date the department has failed to provide the statement.
King Bungane III’s position was affirmed by his coronation on 13 December 2014.
