Hansmoeskraal land claim ‘was confirmed’

Hayley Jacobsen and Joey October, Cape Town:

We refer to the article in the George Herald (21 September) regarding the Pacaltsdorp Landelike land claim

(Ref A769). We wish to respond to the comment of the Regional Land Claims Commission (RLCC).

We wish to inform the RLCC that their press statement that there is no claim for Hansmoeskraal, is totally untrue. Firstly, Hansmoeskraal farm 202, one of the components of Pacaltsdorp Landelike land claim (reference no A769), was researched by Miss Esmerelda Reid from December 2007 to 28 February 2011, who found our claim to be compliant, which means that there is a land claim.

On 18 July 2009, Commissioner

Beverley Jansen requested the HMK claimants to prove item (iv), that being racial law or racial practice was the cause of the loss of land, in order for the RLCC Western Cape to accept our claim, which we did.

In a documentary statement to an enquiry dated 21 July 2009 by a claimant, Mr Edward Maree, Ms Jansen and Deputy Regional Land Claims Commissioner David Smit informed him that a claim for Hansmoeskraal was lodged. Ms Jansen and Mr

Moloto declared the success of the Hansmoeskraal claim on 24 February 2011.

In the minutes of the meeting of 26 November 2005, Commissioner

Lauren Waring declares that there is a land claim on Hansmoeskraal and that a letter will be written to the developers to inform them of the land claim and that they are busy with the gazetting of this claim. A meeting was held on 8 July 2014 between ourselves, the regional public protector, Mr Landman and an RLCC official and in this meeting, this official indicated that the said claim form was being held at the George satellite office. He agreed to provide the said claim form the next day, 9 July 2014. He failed to do so by requesting that it is their "humble view to withhold the said claim form" and that a further meeting would be held on 1 August 2014. This meeting was cancelled and the next agreed date was set for 6 August 2014. On 5 August 2014, Mr Landman cancelled this meeting, with the result that the claim form as agreed was not provided to this day - resulting in the claim not being finalised.

Documentary evidences of our facts in this letter have been provided to the Public Protector's offices, the RLCC and the George Herald.

This letter was sent to the Public Protector's spokesperson, Cleopatra Mosana, and the Regional Land Claims Commission (RLCC) spokesperson, Vuyani Nkasayi, but no comment was received before the newspaper went to print.