Ministry slammed for lack of progress
MPs have slammed Rural Development officials after the Select Committee on Communications and Public Enterprises was told there was still no progress in placing Richtersveld’s Communal Property Association (CPA) under administration.
In 2007, the Land Claims Court awarded the Richtersveld CPA land and mining rights expropriated by the state including the diamond-rich area controlled by Alexkor. Under a settlement agreement with the state, the assets were consolidated in a community trust structure for the Richtersveld Sida !Hub Communal Property Association (CPA). The committee however heard that the CPA was not functioning and would only yield desired results if it was placed under administration. Rural Development chief director Khutso Moeketsi said: “Since our last appearance here last year, we have not registered any progress in regularising the CPA.
“We have done everything we could but at some point honourable deputy minister Mcebisi Skwatsha went there, there were undertakings from the community but nothing happened,” said Moeketsi.
In terms of the Deed of Settlement, government through Alexkor is obliged to pay R45 million to the Richtersveld Property Holding Company as part of restitution.
The community under the leadership of the CPA executive committee decided in 2016 that the said R45m should no longer be paid to the Property Holding Company but to members of the Richtersveld communities. Moeketsi said their efforts had been stifled by the state attorney in the Northern Cape. “Before the DG resorted to this (administration), there were serious processes that preceded that. I remember after our appearance here, we appointed an election company to access the CPA to convene an AGM and hold elections. All those efforts were thwarted,” said Moeketsi.
The CPA’s current committee mandate expired in 2016. The CPA has since failed to convene a successful AGM to elect and renew the mandate of the CPA. For a CPA to be compliant with its constitution, it must have an updated list of beneficiaries and be able to report on land dealings.