THE Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has announced the approval for the release of 1 199 hectares of land valued at approximately R7.4million for the settlement of land restitution claim filed 25 years ago by the Kaapsche Hoop Community in Mpumalanga.
A restitution claim was lodged with the Mpumalanga Regional Land Claims Commission on behalf of the Kaapsche Hoop Community on 17 December 1998 in line with the provisions of the Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994.
The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights estimates that around 80 000 land claims were lodged before the 31 December 1998 deadline.
Parliament passed an amendment of the Restitution of Land Rights Act in 2014 to reopen the lodgement of land claims for a period of five years. More than 163 000 claims were lodged during this period, however, the Constitutional Court put a halt to the processing of new claims following court action by the Land Access Movement of South Africa.
Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform Thoko Didiza last year told parliament there were still an estimated 7 000 outstanding land claims to be processed.
Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia De Lille said she has written to Didiza to inform her about progress made on the part of her department with regard to releasing land for the settlement of land claims.
“Under the land reform programme, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), as the custodian of national state-owned land, is often requested to release land to settle land claims for restitution where claimants filed claims before the 31 December 1998 deadline,” said De Lille in a statement.
“Land reform is one of the key pillars of redressing the legacy of the apartheid regime which saw people of colour dispossessed of land and forcibly removed from land. Land redress is also one of the key drivers to towards achieving spatial and socio-economic justice and ensuring that public land is used for public good,” she said.
“As a democratic government, our role is to reverse this legacy of the apartheid regime by returning land to dispossessed communities who lodged claims and have had these claims verified under the restitution process which is under ambit of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD).
“We are therefore pleased that we can finally release the property on the part of DPWI for DALRRD to ultimately transfer the land parcel to beneficiaries,” said De Lille.
According to the DPWI, the Kaapsche Hoop community occupied the farm and its surrounding areas around 1910.
Their land rights were lost due to the establishment of an asbestos mine when they were relocated. There was also an establishment of a forestry plantation by the South African Forestry Company Limited (SAFCOL).
“The establishment of both the asbestos mine and the plantation created employment for the community and only those community members who worked for both companies and their families were allowed to reside on the farm.
“The community was removed from the houses built by SAFCOL in 1973 and when the Komati Land Company took over from SAFCOL, the houses of the community members not working for SAFCOL were demolished.
“Notices for the demolition were not issued to the community and as a result, their livestock was left behind during their relocation,” De Lille said.
She said since June 2019 the DPWI has released 2 560 hectares of land (44 parcels) to the Housing Development Agency (HDA) for human settlements.
“In addition, DPWI has released 18 land parcels measuring 533 hectares for the purposes of accommodating communities, including those displaced by floods in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.
“Land for socio economic purposes: In support of infrastructure development, 15 hectares (11 land parcels) were approved for registration of servitude for roads, water, electricity and gas pipeline servitudes in this past financial year.”
De Lille said in addition, DPWI has released 28.0055 hectares (7 land parcels) which was approved for registration of Eskom servitudes in December 2022.
“Since May 2019 to date, DPWI has released 218 land parcels measuring 31 439 hectares for restitution. Last year’s target for restitution was 10 000 hectares and this was exceeded.” – news@mukurukuru.co.za
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