R3.4m land claim payout for Limpopo family
A family from Khujwana Village, near Tzaneen, Limpopo were given R3.4 million as compensation for lost rights to land after they were dispossessed of their land during apartheid.
According to the Rural Development and Land Reform Ministry, the Khumalo family lodged a claim on the basis of beneficial occupation rights, as they had lived on the land for more than 10 years after 1913 until they were removed in 1964, Letaba Herald reported.
The land claim was lodged with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights in 1998 by descendants of the Khumalo family.
Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwiti approved the payment on Friday, which was then divided among the 21 households of the Khumalo family.
“What we are going to get here today should not divide us, but unite us … I would like to see the family using the money wisely – starting businesses, upgrading their lives,” a representative for the family said.
Last month, the Regional Land Claims Commission began investigations into a land claim involving large parts of the Tshwane Metro lodged by Mkwaduba paramount chief Victor Lekhuleni of the Bakgatla ba Lekhuleni clan.
Lekhuleni’s claim included about 500 privately owned properties, nine farms, shopping centres, churches, schools and government-owned land.
According to the claim, Lekhuleni’s clan was removed from the land by police during the 1950s and early 1960s.
– Caxton News Service
Read original story on letabaherald.co.za
