Land claim woes

MANY residents may by now be aware of the extremely long line of people outside the local Land Affairs offices.

The people queue outside the offices in High Street day and night to get help with regards to their land claim issues.

The government reopened the doors of land claims last year and it was said that those victims of land repossession, who missed the original land claim deadline, were granted the opportunity to lodge their claims, until 2019.

The people lodged outside the Land Affairs offices are alleged to have been there since March this year and the line seems to get longer each day.

Leaving their homes and children, men and women from many rural areas surrounding Vryheid have brought their blankets and clothing and are currently camping on the pavement in High Street with hopes of leaving with their land repossession matters resolved.

According to one of the ‘campers’, around 30 people or less are assisted each day while the rest have to leave and come back the next day.

“This is why we have opted to sleep outside the offices. We do not have the money to travel back and forth everyday and many of us do not have any relatives in Vryheid,” he said.

It is alleged that last week Friday, the offices were closed at 10:30 AM even though the offices are scheduled to close at 12:00 PM on Fridays.

Neighboring businesses are also suffering as the ‘campers’ use the bushes and trees in Hlobane Street as toilets at night.

Besides this, the long queue also blocks the entrance to a business next-door to the Land Affairs offices.

Land Affairs staff said that they were aware of the increasing number of people but also pointed out that there was nothing they could do as the people seem to be determined to have their cases solved as soon as possible regardless of the fact that they have until 2019.

At this time it is unclear whether the line is set to decrease or whether it will ascend as more people from rural areas wait to reclaim their land.