On Tuesday The EFF illegally occupied a piece of South African Forestry Companies Ltd’s (Safcol) Bergvliet Plantation in support of the KaMgadzeni land claimants who lodged a claim on the land in 2002.

They are occupying a piece of the 4 621 hectares – 56 per cent of the Bergvliet plantation – which is being claimed by the community.
Mr Collen Sidebe, provincial leader of the EFF, said these claimants were “the rightful owners of the land on which Safcol is operating under the trade name of Komatiland Forests”.

“The claimants have exhausted all avenues, including taking the matter to the minister of rural development, the premier of Mpumalanga, the MEC for agriculture and rural development, Safcol and the Land Claims Court, but nothing has been done.

“They contacted the EFF in the province and shared their frustrations with the party. The EFF committed itself to helping them by mediating gatherings between claimants and officials from the Regional Land Claims Commissioner (RLCC), the minister and the MEC concerned, but did not receive positive results. The claimants continued to ask for intervention from the EFF because land disputes were one of its cardinal pillars.”

Sedibe claimed that the land in question had been verified and researched by the RLCC. It had been proved that it belonged to the people of KaMgadzeni.

“We have supported them from the beginning and we will continue to support, not only them, but everybody who is facing a similar situation.

“The EFF urges them to go and occupy their land and stop operations if there are any, until their issues are resolved amicably.
“We have told the government that its policy on land restitution is not benefiting the black people whose land was stolen by the white people,” he continued.

According to Mr Khaya Buthelezi, spokesman of Safcol, it is renting this piece of land from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). “The land restitution process resides within the Land Commission under the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and therefore, we have no control of the process,” he said.

“According to our records, this claim is currently being researched by the Mpumalanga Land Commission to ascertain the veracity of the claim and Safcol is cooperating with this process.

“In spite of being a third party in this matter between the land claimants and the Land Commission, we have been actively engaging all relevant stakeholders to ensure a speedy settlement of all land claims on Safcol-operated land for the benefit of all,” Buthelezi continued.

“To ensure that the land claimants derive economic benefits from the forestry business while they are waiting for the land restitution process to run its course, about 40 people have been employed from the local community as contractors to assist with conservation efforts at the plantation.

“Other developmental opportunities have also been afforded to the community, such as bursaries, skills training and many others.
“We are in constant discussions with our colleagues from the land commission, DAFF, DRDLR as well as our shareholder, the Department of Public Enterprises, to arrive at an amicable settlement of this land dispute,” he concluded.

Officials from the RLCC couldn’t be reached at the time of going to print.