Issues surrounding land claim

RESIDENTS and stakeholders from the South of Johannesburg, parts of Ekurhuleni and parts of the Vaal have been concerned and asking various questions following the gazettement of the land claim by the Bakwena Ba Mare a Phogolo community.

The claim actually does affect residents in more ways than one even if the Regional Land Claims Commission maintains that a claim is just a claim pending the outcome of an investigation – this is because residents have to submit comments regarding their claimed land, and follow certain procedures prior to selling their properties; meanwhile, some people believe the claim might make it difficult to get finance to purchase claimed land or finance could come at a higher risk, making it slightly more costly.

Following the meeting hosted by the office of the Regional Land Claims Commissioner at Emperors Palace on Thursday, November 24, two other successful meetings were held by locals and legal experts to discuss the claim regarding areas that are affected in Ekurhuleni and in the South of Johannesburg.

Residents are concerned about how their lives will be affected because they have built homes, schools, churches, charity organisations, sporting grounds, recreation reserves and the government has also built hospitals, schools, fire stations, water reservoirs, power stations and so forth. The commission is due to inform concerned parties of the outcomes of the investigations. So far, the CHRONICLE has learned that investigations are already halfway.

What is worth mentioning at this point is that this piece of land claimed is a vast amount of land, and it was for that reason that the initial claim was dismissed by the commission. The commission looked at the amount of land claimed and was not convinced that a community of people or families of the community could have occupied such a vast amount of land and also had control over it.

The commission requires claimants to prove that they both occupied and controlled land before they were repossessed. Most precisely, the commission mentioned two factors which resulted in the dismissal of this particular claim in the first place:

First, for a claim to warrant the commission’s attention, the claimants must have been dispossessed after June 1913 as a result of past racially discriminatory laws of practice. Contrariwise, the maPhogolo were dispossessed in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Secondly, the commission concluded that it was Mzilikazi ka Mashobane’s amaNdebele who drove the community out of Tsorogwane and not the apartheid regime.

“There has therefore never been a dispossession as envisaged by the Restitution Act,” the commission erroneously found.

However, the community insisted and took the commission to court on numerous occasions and eventually the commission was ordered to gazette the claim and pay for the legal cost of the claimant. A legal expert blames the commission for saying they had exhausted other legal routes instead of being reluctant to do what they said they would do during discussions with the claimant – if they would have done this they would have avoided getting to a stage whereby the gazettement was compelled by a court order – which brings the changes below.

CHANGES

On Friday, November 4, the claim was published in the Government Gazette, that means:

1. No person may sell, exchange, donate, lease, subdivide, rezone or develop claimed land without giving the Regional Land Claims Commission a one month’s written notice of intentions to do so. defying this could lead to the court granting orders against such actions if they are found to have not acted in good faith but to frustrate the claim processes.

2. No claimant who occupied the land in question at the date of commencement of this act may be evicted from the said land without written authority of the Chief Land Claims Commissioner.

3. No person may, in any manner, remove or cause to be removed, destroy or cause to be destroyed, any improvements upon the land without the written authority of the Chief Land Claims Commissioner.

4. No claimant or other person may enter upon and occupy the land without the permission of the owner or lawful occupier.

WHAT TO DO

As a resident or concerned stakeholder who was served with a gazette notice, you are advised to submit your representation and or objections with reasons, if any, into the validity of this claim in terms of section 11A of the Restitution Act, by last day, Saturday, January 14.

If you have any comment or objections, ensure that they are submitted or the commission will conclude that you consent to the prime facie validity of the claim.

LOCALS UNITED

A meeting for members of the Midvaal and the South of Johannesburg was hosted at the Lido Hotel on Wednesday, November 23, and a meeting by Ekurhuleni stakeholders followed on Monday, November 28 in Alberton.

Residents want to thank the Lido Hotel for hosting the meeting.

Councillor of the Midvaal, Dennis Ryder, opened the meeting by encouraging all concerned parties to remain calm, keep emotions in check even if they feel angry, frustrated and feel attacked. He advised the crowd that the land commissioner was not their enemy but their ally. “Even though the government makes mistakes and may have erred in this case – we still need them,” he said.

Lawyers from Marques Soares Fontes Attorneys will be helping their clients.

A landowner who previously had land expropriated in a land claim decided to do his own research and encourages more people to go to the National Archives in Pretoria, and do their own research because there are plenty of records. He said he also found an old graveyard close to the Thaba Eco Hotel and another one close to the Lido Hotel, and said even the grave of Danie Theron is actually there. He claimed there is a lot of history dating back to 1830 to suggest that land was given to settlers long before the 1900s.

The meeting held in Alberton was also very successful and residents want to thank attorneys Mike Fontes and Gary van den Heuvel for their input and acting on behalf of the community.

FARMERS AND RURAL OWNERS MOST VULNERABLE

Lawyers revealed to those attending that such a claim is less likely to result in expropriation for those people in residential areas because the state will compensate those people, especially because the commission has a responsibility to avoid major social unrests. It is likely that homeowners will be protected by the fact that moving them and their families is not in the public interest.

However, residents are encouraged to avoid waiting because they could be at a higher risk. Rather choose to oppose the claim or accept the claim.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for farmers and rural owners because a farmer who does not oppose the claim is basically waiting for compensation for land. The state will not force them to sell unless it has exhausted all options and turns to expropriation. In this case, the state will send an evaluator to draw up a value, if the farmer or owner refuses the value, he or she can invite the evaluator of choice. But if there is too much difference between the values and a sit-down meeting does not yield a consensus, expropriation may result. Nonetheless, lawyers advise farmers and rural land owners not to be too scared of expropriation.

Councillor Bruna Haipel (Alberton) said it would be better for the community to object as a group. “Our online petition is still ongoing and we lodged a complaint on behalf of 200 people. As of November 30, the number signing the petition stood on 466,” Haipel said.

PLANS TO FIGHT BACK

Locals are encouraged to show a togetherness by forming associations; sharing expenses; to get municipalities on board because they are also affected; fight in togetherness; and name their associations after the names of their community.

CONTACT DETAILS

To volunteer for the association committee in the region email to landclaimssouth@gmail.com; contact the office of the chief director of the Regional Land Claims Commissioner and speak to Ramere Serumula on 012 310 6552 or Edith Mokgoko on 012 310 6573. The claim affects industrial areas, suburbs, townships, national and provincial government owned property and some property owned by the City of Johannesburg. Contact the Land Claims Court and court manager Thembakazi Mashologu on 011 781 2291 or TMashologu@judiciary.org.za or the registrar, Stephen Cindi, on 011 781 2291 or 011 781 2217/8 or SCindi@judiciary.org.za

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