Zimbane payout after 20 years
Joy was written on the faces of 200 Zimbane land claimants, who lodged their claim 20 years ago, as they finally received financial compensation in Mthatha yesterday.
Their more than R22-million settlement was handed over by rural development & land reform minister Maite NkoanaMashabane at the Mthatha Town Hall.
The Zimbane community, which consists of around 17 villages, had lodged a huge claim which covered the whole of the Mthatha town and its surrounding areas in 1998.
Yesterday, Nkoana-Mashabane and national chief land claims commissioner Nomfundo Ntloko-Gobodo described the Zimbane land claim as one of the most complex restitution claims in the Eastern Cape.
But for Zimbane land claims committee chairman Oscar Mnqoto and other beneficiaries, it was the fulfilment of a long and tedious process.
“I am over the moon,” said Mnqoto. “Our people have long been waiting for this day. It’s painful that some have died along the way but at least those who are still alive have finally found what they were looking for,” he said.
Ntloko-Gobodo said her commission had decided to settle the Zimbane claim in four stages, with the first phase being the financial compensation amounting to more than R22million for the “betterment” removals that occurred in 1951.
The second phase would include financial compensation for 111 developed land parcels that would not be restored to the claimant community. A valuer-general would have to determine the monetary value of those properties.
The third phase would involve restoration of land parcels in Mthatha city to the Communal Property Association while the last phase was to do with Zimbane’s dispute with the competing KwaLindile community, which is under litigation currently. It would be referred for mediation in order to determine a form of redress for both claimant communities.
“This [Zimbane claim] is a very complex claim and has a lot of issues including various legal cases. We have been trying to deal with all those issues.”
She said there were around 603 outstanding land claims in the Eastern Cape alone that were yet to be processed.
Nkoana-Mashabane said yesterday’s settlement represented another significant achievement for both her department and the government in general.
The financial handover to Zimbane comes at a time when the country is involved in intense debates about failures and successes of land reform.
“It is for that reason that we always encourage people who receive financial compensation to use the money in a meaningful and productive manner,” she said.
She said the claim involved multiple competing rights and affected the whole of Mthatha and surrounding areas.
We always encourage people to use the money in a meaningful and productive manner