No decision yet on Ingonyama Trust

There had been no decision to take land from the Ingonyama Trust, Rural Development and Land Reform Deputy Minister Mcebisi Skwatsha said on Monday.

The ANC resolved at its conference in December that traditional leaders should relinquish custodianship of the land held in trust by the government.

Former president Kgalema Motlanthe’s report of the High Level Panel of Assessment of Key Legislation of Fundamental Change recommended the disbandment of the Ingonyama Trust.

Traditional leaders in the area, including the king, have said they will oppose attempts to disband the trust, with some going as far as to say there would be a bloodbath should the government go ahead with the plan.

The Ingonyama Trust was established in 1994 to manage land traditionally owned by the KwaZulu-Natal government. The trust owns close to 30% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal and the only trustee is King Goodwill Zwelithini.

“With all humility I have to say there has been no decision by our government to take away land from Ingonyama Trust,” Skwatsha said during the debate on the state of the nation address on Monday.

Motlanthe’s report suggested that all the land under the trust’s administration should be surrendered to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, which would make equal distribution possible. The report found the Ingonyama Trust Act to be unconstitutional and went on to state that the trust had made no contribution towards nation building.