Legal battle follows R41m land payout
Beneficiaries question authenticity of claimants
ALEGAL battle looms in Upper Mngqesha as hundreds of residents scored from a R41-million land claim lodged in the 90s by villagers from an old farming community.
The villagers claimed that 22 families who originally lived on farms in the area, lodged an ownership claim on the land which was used to build Dimbaza township and the industrial area. Their claim was for 2 600ha.
Now that a settlement has been reached, the families have been told there will be 314 claimants sharing the land payout.
The villagers say that in the early 2000s, plots in the area were sold for R5 000 to government employees such as teachers and police officers, who, they claim, are also now benefiting from the claim.
According to the Land Claims Commission, each of the 314 claimants from the village is to get R132 000, to be shared among their family trees.
The villagers have turned to the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Grahamstown for help in being recognised as the true beneficiaries.
LRC attorney Lutho Jolobe said he was attending to their case.
At a meeting on Human Rights Day in Upper Mngqesha attended by more than 300 concerned residents, Jolobe said: “We have been approached by the community and are preparing an application to review and set aside the settlement agreement.
“We will interdict the commission from paying any money to beneficiaries before we verify claimants,” Jolobe said.
However, national chief land claims commissioner Nomfundo Gobodo said the claim was legitimate and gazetted in 2004.
“There were 154 originally dispossessed individuals [from the 22 families] who were verified. Some members of the community complained that some of the affected beneficiaries were not on the list. A decision was taken to add them and the process ended up with 314 beneficiaries,” he explained.
Economic Freedom Fighters coordinator in the Dimbaza area Teleng Thipa said they were surprised by the number of “unknown” people on the list of beneficiaries.
“We are disputing the additional number of unknown people who will benefit from this claim … but the same department is releasing money, paying beneficiaries, why is that? We want the money as we won’t be able to plough this land [without it],” said Thipa, referring to the fact that the process of paying out money had already started.
An elderly villager, Nobakhe Mila, said people were taking advantage of them because they were illiterate.
“Because we didn’t go to school, people are taking a chance and are claiming land that does not belong to them,” she said.
Matsepiso Dingiswayo alleged that some people had only recently bought plots. “We heard that some police officers got plots for R5 000 while teachers who are temporarily staying in our houses, are also claiming to receive these monies.”
Gobodo said more than 1 700 people will benefit from the claim.
“The claim comprises 314 households with 1 757 beneficiaries. An amount of R41 504 432 was approved to be paid to the claimant community and each household is entitled to an amount of R132 180. Each family was instructed to nominate one representative who signed for the family tree.
“Before the approval of the submission, vetting was done on numerous occasions, and the claimant committee signed the verification list confirming its authenticity,” explained Gobodo.
The Mngqesha community was dispossessed through the Development Trust and Land Act 18 of 1936. The physical dispossession of the Mngqesha community took place in 1960.
“The community lost residential beneficial occupational rights in the form of grazing and arable rights,” Gobodo said. —