Mataffin residents unhappy with trust

NELSPRUIT – Residents of Mataffin are deeply unhappy with how the Mastafeni Trust is being run. The trust obtained the land from Hall & Sons in a land-restitution deal in 2003. Beneficiaries of the trust are descendants of those workers who lived on the land.

Lowvelder reported in September that the existing waterworks (pump and pipes) remained disconnected. Water is currently provided from tanks that are replaced by trucks from the municipality.

According to Mr Steve Schormann, a local councillor, the issue is that some people are willing to pay for the water they would receive, while other community members say they don’t see why they should, as others receive it for free.

Brother M, who would only be identified by that moniker for fear of victimisation, lives in the Woodhouse area of Mataffin and pays for his water. He said he has a 2 000-litre tank at his house. He pays a truck, which comes by to fill up tanks for the community, between R100 and R120 to fill up his.

“You don’t ask where the water is supposed to go, you just care about filling your tank,” he told Lowvelder. He said he and his family use the water sparingly for it to last the month. However, if the water pipes were reconnected, they would receive three times the amount for free, as users were not charged for the first 6 000 litres they used in a month.

Brother M, who works as a consultant at a bank in Nelspruit, was born in Mataffin 42 years ago, and is a beneficiary of the Mastafeni. Since the trust acquired the land, a portion had been sold to Mbombela Local Municipality which built Mbombela Stadium on the land. Brother M explained that they had seen no improvement in the community and blamed the administrators of the trust for mismanaging it.

“We don’t even have a clinic. If someone gets sick, you must rent a car from someone, and drive to Rob Ferreira. They built this new school, but let the grass grow on the old school buildings. Why don’t they use it for a clinic?”

He said the community members took care of criminal elements themselves, as one would never see a policeman in the area, unless he was visiting his girlfriend.

“Illegal occupants”, or people who were not beneficiaries of the trust, were also on the rise. In November, the North Gauteng High Court set aside an eviction order for these “illegal occupants”. But some of them claimed to be beneficiaries. One such a man, who also insisted on remaining anonymous to protect himself, lived in Mataffin Skom.

A pieceworker, he explained that he was also born in Mataffin and claimed to be a beneficiary too. Yet, when he grew up, he had to leave the formal settlement as there was no space there for him and his new young family.

They moved to Skom, but he said they received eviction notices from the administrators who claimed it was their land. They lived without water and electricity and work was scarce.

“There are so many issues here,” he said. Schormann was due to have a meeting with Sembcorp Silulumanzi today (Friday) regarding the issue. What are the issues you experience in your community? Let us know at mireille@lowvelder.co.za.