Mala Mala land deal to be probed
Parliament’s portfolio committee on land reform is to initiate a forensic audit into the Mala Mala land deal in Mpumalanga.
Ken Robertson, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) shadow deputy minister of rural development and land reform, had originally proposed that the arrangement be probed, and therefore welcomed the decision, Lowvelder reports.
The deal was finalised and restored to the Nwandlamharhi Communal Property Association (CPA) in 2013/14.
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“Mala Mala is South Africa’s most expensive land deal to date and has cost taxpayers R1,1 billion,” Robertson said in a statement.
“Both the Land Claims Court and High Court ruled that the price envisioned for Mala Mala was excessive and not in the best interests of South Africans.”
Robertson explained that a report presented to the committee could not explain why the state originally opposed the proposed amount of R751 737 million, but finally settled on the increased amount outside the courts.
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