Battle ready for land claim
Although allegations are doing the round that the claimant in the massive land claim which involves large parts of the east and north of the Tshwane metro was not a legitimate chief, residents in the east are preparing themselves for a fight to keep their properties.
Residents of Die Wilgers and surrounding areas are getting all their legal and historical ducks in a row to fight the multi-billion rand land claim on a large part of the east and north of the Tshwane metro, but allegations are surfacing that the claimant is not the “chief” he pretends to be.
Several residents of Mamelodi, who asked not to be identified, told Rekord that Velaphi Victor Lekhuleni was in fact not a traditional leader and there was therefore no valid claim from him whatsoever on the vast tracks of land he claimed on behalf of the Mhwaduba of Bakgatla Ba Lekhuleni tribe.
The area claimed by Lekhuleni and published in the Government Gazettes of 12 December 2014 and 6 February this year, include among others all the land from Wapadrand to the CSIR, stretching north through Die Wilgers, La Montagne, Silverton and Mamelodi over the Magaliesberg mountain to as far as Derdepoort in the north.
Lekhuleni claimed that members of his clan had been forcefully removed from the land by the police in the 1950s and 1960s and by doing so, took away their traditional land used for habitation, grazing, burial sites and the area where his community held their traditional initiation schools.
Mamelodi residents, who claimed to have known Lekhuleni since birth, now claim he was not a chief and was born and raised in Mamelodi. One of his uncles owned an initiation school on the Magaliesberg mountain where every other community also still held their initiation schools and ceremonies, they said.
“He walks around wearing traditional garb and pretends to be a chief but he is not,” a resident said.
However, Die Wilgers residents’ association (DWRA) is taking no chances and said the management committee decided to oppose the claim on “The Willows” on several valid grounds.
“We are in the process of collecting all the necessary information with the assistance of several of the adjoining associations or groups confronted by these claims.
“We are also involving private consultants. The advice of one of these consultants experienced in this field is that we could present a better case if we can combine the efforts of all the involved parties and support each other,” the DWRA said in an email sent to all the residents of the area.
Affected parties have until 30 April to submit objections against the massive claim.
“I expect that we will eventually send you a form to complete and submit if you want to lodge an objection. We will strongly advise you to do so to make sure that no area will be subjected to any claim.”
The DWRA said it was aware that the claim was also against the open spaces (parks) in the area and that the municipality would be contacted as the owner of these areas to join the residents’ efforts.
Residents were asked to contact the DWRA before Friday 20 March 2015, so that they could receive the form to oppose the claim.
Meanwhile, the regional land claims commission will convene the first stakeholders meeting on 7 March to discuss the claim.
