Land Claims Committee still waiting for answers, six months later
The Seshego Land Claims Committee (SLCC) says it is tired of waiting for the Department Of Rural Development and Land Reform to take their pleas seriously.
MOKOPANE – This was the message when the group, mainly made-up of the elderly, were protesting in February.
They alleged that the department promised them land after they had been moved from their rightful land near Goseame in Polokwane, to Seshego.
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The group claim they were promised land to accommodate 2 800 people, which was an estimated 410 ha in 2007 but were only given 42 ha in 2013 instead, due to unavailability of land at the time.
The 42 ha land, however, does not have any basic services such as roads, electricity, water and sewage.
The Chairperson of the SLCC, Seretse Mogano, says the Department Of Rural Development and Land Reform promised to acquire the rest of the land for them, but to date, there has been no progress. The SLCC occupied the rural development offices for three days earlier this week in a protest bid, to get the attention of the national office.
“The elderly spent a few nights at the office in February and during that time, the department was making all sorts of promises, but now they do not have time for us.”
During the sit-in, the department asked for 21 working days to come up with a solution, it has been almost six months. Seretse says they have on multiple occasions tried to engage the department, but the only thing they got was a letter to give to Eskom requesting electricity.
“The letter they gave me is so vague that it does not even have an address on it. The people at Eskom will not be able to help us.”
He says they do not believe in damaging property or being a nuisance to society, but if the department does not give them the necessary attention, they will embark on a strike.
“I tried engaging with the national office as well, but they keep asking for time as there is a new minister who is not familiar with our issue.”
Avhashoni Magada, Spokesperson for the Department, says it is not a matter of briefing the minister but rather that the investigations into the claims are still ongoing.
