Demand for delivery
RESIDENTS of Gwatyu farms under the Gwatyu Communal Property Association (GCPA) marched to the Queenstown town hall on Monday to hand over a memorandum to Lukhanji executive mayor Nozi Makanda, demanding a forensic audit of the expenditure on Gwatyu farm over the past five years.
The residents carried a ‘coffin’ made of cardboard, on which was written ‘RIP Nozibele’ (the mayor’s first name).
Some of the residents asked to see their councillor, Mzwandile Thole, whom they claimed they had not met.
Reading the memorandum, march con- venor and GCPA chairman Thembekazi Matsheke said they demanded the recognition and registration of the Gwatyu Communal Property Association. “We demand the mayor reconvene the aborted and sabotaged stakeholders’ intervention workshop organised by the department of eco- nomic development, environmental affairs and tourism, which her office, the Chris Hani district municipality and other government invitees with the exception of the department of economic development, environmental affairs and tourism and military veterans failed to attend on May 7, after having confirmed your attendance.”
She said they had lived on the Gwatyu farms for generations. “When the white farmers left we remained, but we were never given security of tenure to enable us to farm these farms in the same way.”
In 1994 a democratic government was put in place which undertook to make land available to those deprived of land by the apartheid regime. “Among the pieces of legislation generated by the democratic government was the Land Act 28 of 1996. We, the community of Gwatyu, organised ourselves into a communal property association in accordance with the provisions of Act 28 of 1996 and accordingly applied for the registration of the same in July 2014,” Matsheke said.
No acknowledgement had been received from the office of the mayor, the department of rural development in Queenstown and the national office of the department of rural development and land reform.
“For 21 years, we have been told of projects to provide us with water, toilets and roads, but none of these reached completion. Should we not receive a tangible response to these demands in 14 days we will have no option but to consider our next option.”
She said if the mayor did not respond the residents would “close Queenstown.”
Makhanda thanked the residents for bringing the memorandum to her attention and promised to deal with it within 14 days. “We will do a follow-up. There will be no need to come here as we will go to Gwatyu and address the matter,” she said.