The deputy president of South Africa, David Mabuza, has assured traditional leaders that government will not be coming after the 2.8 million hectares of Ingonyama Trust land in KZN as part of its land redistribution plan.

Ingonyama Trust’s sole signatory is the Zulu king.

“The Ingonyama Trust, plays an important role and we will continue protecting the land that indigenous people have historically owned,” said Mabuza.

Mabuza was speaking at an engagement event with traditional leaders in Durban on Friday.

The event was primarily for Mabuza to brief traditional leaders on the progress of the inter-ministerial task team that was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa to look into matters of ownership of communal land among others.

Mabuza said it is common knowledge that those who reside in or want to invest in communal land, face challenges related to ownership and management of land.

“It is critical to prioritise access to land as a crucial asset for rural development and economic transformation, so that the land held in trust by traditional and Khoi-San leaders may be effectively used for agriculture, human settlements, industrial development, and other purposes beneficial to the people,” said Mabuza.

“[However], the big question should no longer be about land distribution, but should be about how we use the land that is claimed and settled.

“We must ensure that ordinary people benefit from commercial land use and the extraction of natural resources in traditional communities,” said Mabuza.

Director-general of Traditional Affairs

Mashwahle Diphofa, director-general of Traditional Affairs, said the task team was divided into five workstreams looking into various issues ranging from law, infrastructure, social cohesion, policy and building institutional capacity among traditional leaders.

One of the examples Diphofa cited was that a directive has been issued to the police ministry to establish a task team to investigate the killings of traditional leaders and to review cold case dockets.

To make initiation schools safer, Diphofa said oversight committees have been established to monitor male circumcision rituals.

Diphofa said traditional leaders in mining towns have complained about not benefitting from operations on their land. In response government has made social and labour plans mandatory for all mining companies, to ensure they give back to their respective communities.

“Going forward greater emphasis will be on unlocking social and labour plans through strengthening consultations with companies and communities on a case-by-case basis,” said Diphofa.

KZN chairperson for the House of Traditional and Khoi-San leaders

Inkosi Robert Sfiso Shinga, KZN chairperson for the House of Traditional and Khoi-San leaders, said he was concerned that long-standing issues affecting traditional leadership have still been not addressed.

Shinga said different presidents and ministers engage with them after every political cycle with no tangible results.

“It goes without saying that areas under Amakhosi remain the areas with the highest in unemployment and the most inequality and poverty.

“Development is largely preserved for previously advantaged sections of our society while rural areas remain underdeveloped leaving people under Amakhosi destitute and impoverished,” said Shinga.