Families demand answers for land claim
The land they are trying to reclaim covers 15 farms. It starts from Murchison Hospital and ends at the Margate Airport.
For the past decade, the Phehlukwayo families have continued their fight to reclaim the ancestral land they were forced to leave in 1920.
Mphilelwa Phehlukwayo said the Mbumbazi area near Paddock belonged to their forefathers.
He said they are demanding answers from the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, as they were recently informed that the claim they lodged in 2014 was finalised.
He added that to reclaim the land, they formed a committee that included people from the Phehlukwayo, Nhlumayo, Ndovela and Xolo clans, as their ancestors were displaced.
Phehlukwayo said in their claim that they made it clear that they want their land back, not money.
Meanwhile, Khumbulani Phehlukwayo, said his biggest worry is that the claim process has been closed, but they have not been given their land back.
“When we contacted the department, they said no, the people of Mbumbazi changed their minds and decided that they no longer wanted the land back, they want money. That is not true. Our ancestors were displaced in 1920. None of us said we want money,” he said.
He added that they want to know from the department who the land was sold to, what verification processes were followed, how much was given to those people and how the department plans to rectify this.
He said the land they are trying to reclaim covers 15 farms, starting from Murchison Hospital to the Margate Airport.
After numerous attempts to get a comment from the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, nothing was received at the time of going to press.
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