... Mayiwane youth in land dispute with elder
MAYIWANE –The Mayiwane youth is up in arms with their Mkhuzweni Umphakatsi, over the allocation of grazing fields in the area.
They are accusing one of the elders of the area of using underhand tactics to allocate the said fields to people who were allegedly not from the area. They claimed these fields were owned by their late parents, insisting that the royal kraal had no authority to allocate such to other people.
They said the fields have already been fenced by the umphakatsi as a ‘no-go area’ and this has agitated the youth to an extent that they were threatening to forcefully bring down the fence if this issue is not addressed to their satisfaction by the umphakatsi.
This publication was part of a meeting organised by the youth on Monday morning at a local meeting point, where they voiced out their displeasure on being allegedly undermined by the elder of the area.
According to the Eswatini culture, one of the elders is assigned responsibilities to take concerns or issues from members of the community to the herdsman (indvuna yemphakatsi) who in turn discusses such with the inner council (bandlancane) before a report is submitted to the chief.
The youth is not happy with the elder at the centre of the controversy. His name cannot be mentioned at this stage, pending a meeting in which the allegations may be repeated in his presence.
Gcina Ndzimandze, an outspoken Mayiwane resident, said they would take stern action if the matter was not addressed. “These fields were taken by umphakatsi on the understanding that the affected families would each be allocated one field through a scheme arranged for the community members,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is no longer going according to plan, because what is happening is that the same people are now enjoying the benefits of using these fields to plough maize.”
He alleged that such a practice was dividing them as a community, as families that had the fields taken from them, have been left out in the cold. “We are not happy with one of the elders, the way he is handling the allocation of the fields is not fair and dividing us as a community. Most of these fields were left by our parents, but now, other people are enjoying the benefits of using them for farming purposes,” he said. He said this has been happening for a long time, calling for action to be taken.
Grievances
Ndzimandze also claimed that they had reported their grievances to the man at the centre of the controversy. “We feel undermined by this man because he is ignoring our complaints and allocating the same people to use the fields that belonged to our parents. Most of us are not employed and we want to use the fields to plough maize so that we can put food on the table for our families,” he said.
When approached for comment, the elder was very calm, insisting that the aggrieved youth had not approached him. “They know the procedure to follow when they have misgivings about issues related to this area. As far as I know, they have not done that. They should come forward with their concerns so that we can forward them to the relevant authorities. That is how it works and protocol must be followed at all times,” the elder said.
Asked to comment on the dispute raised by the youth over the allocation of the grazing fields, he said he would only comment once the concerns had been properly forwarded to him.