Decades-long land battle nears end for some

A DRAWN-out land claims battle involving three communities in the Peddie region could soon come to an end for one group after they agreed to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s One Hectare One Household project.

For the better part of the last two decades, the Amazizi, Tharfield and Prudhoe communities have been involved in a land claim battle over more than 80 farms spanning 43 000ha in the Fish River and surrounding regions. The case returned to the Port Alfred Magistrate’s Court last week.

However, the Tharfield community will not return to court today.

At the end of last week’s proceedings, they agreed to the government’s plan that will see each household take ownership of a 1ha patch of land as soon as the paperwork, including their title deeds, are finalised.

Yesterday Advocate Viwe Notshe, representing the Amazizi community, confirmed that the Tharfield group had been excused from proceedings while they waited for the land ownership transfer to be completed.

The One Hectare One Household project is the brainchild of Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti, and has been rolled out in a number of locations across the Eastern Cape, including Kentonon-Sea and Cookhouse, with mixed results.

At this stage, it is unclear how many households will benefit from this agreement as that will form part of the documentation which needs to be finalised between the community and the department.

In the meantime, legal representatives for the Amazizi and Prudhoe communities will return to court today to continue their land claim case.

Notshe said it was unclear exactly how many people were involved with the land claims or how long this case would take before it was concluded.

“Once the issue of entitlement is settled then we will return to the communities and confirm exactly how many households are involved, and how the land can be divided effectively.

“Hopefully now that one of the communities are removed from the case, we will see things progressing at a quicker pace,” Notshe said.