R93 Million land claim still unsettled
Some of the more than 1 500 claimant groups are still waiting for their land claims to be settled after more than two decades.
MBOMBELA – Bernard Mashego, the chairman of the Old Mbombela Land Claims Committee and a claimant himself, started the claim process more than 23 years ago.
He regularly meets with other claimants at the KaNyamazane Stadium to discuss progress. Only relatively recently, in May 2018, did he receive a letter to confirm that his claim has been verified, but he has not received any payment yet.
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Mpumalanga Regional Land Claims Commission’s (MRLCC) chief director of land restitution, Sam Nkosi, confirmed the Mbombela land claim. He said there are 259 beneficiaries who have appointed an attorney.
“It is true that not all the beneficiaries have been paid, as some did not have supporting documentation,” Nkosi said.
Mashego was quick to point out to the verification-of-claim letter that he received in 2018.
“We have submitted all the documentation, as the MRLCC has already confirmed that the claim has been verified,” Mashego said.
Nkosi said that the restitution programme faces enormous challenges, such as complex and overlapping community claims, lack of funding and insufficient staff.
He says the MRLCC received 6 300 claims since the cut-off date at the end of 1998 and that less than half of those have been settled.
“Approximately 1 023 of the Mbombela claimants have been paid so far,” Nkosi said.
The claimants referred to as the residents of the Mbombela Old Location have occupied land owned by the then-Nelspruit Municipality since 1950. These residents of what was formerly known as the Maplankeni location were forcefully removed between 1970 and 1997, and resettled in KaNyamazane, Daantjie, Matsulu and Msogwaba.
The confiscated land was consolidated to form Nelspruit Extension 12 and Valencia Park, according to Johann du Preez, attorney for 593 of the original 1 500 claimant groups. Du Preez has been involved for the past two decades to get the supporting documentation in order.
“The claimants initially attempted to institute the claims themselves. When they approached me in 1998, it was chaos. There was no evidence to support their claims,” Du Preez explained.
The verification letter includes a list of 536 people from 285 claimant groups. Each claimant group refers to all the members of a family entitled to claim restitution or compensation, according to Du Preez, who demanded payment from the MRLCC in July 2018 in terms of this verified claimants’ list. He said each claimant group is entitled to between R138 000 and R342 000.
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Mashego said some of the claimants have passed away from old age without ever receiving any compensation.
Most of the claimants struggle to pay for transport to get to work from KaNyamazane to Mbombela every day. “It would improve their lives if they could get accommodation closer to the city,” Mashego said.
