UPDATE: Shoba land sold illegally

The Hlahlindlela Trust board has confirmed that the people who are currently living in Shoba are doing so illegally.
The land, which is now being sold between R3000 to R8000 for people to build homes, was initially part of the R24-MILLION land restitution project, which was handed out by former Land Affairs Thoko Didiza in 2004 to the people of KwaBhanya.
The land included livestock, maize and wheat farms, and the community established the Hlahlindlela Trust to run these.
More than 700 cattle, about 400 sheep, horses and vast tracts of wheat, mealie-meal plantations and a gumtree forest were given to this community.
However, there were numerous cases of conflict between the community and the board members.
Several letters were written to the provincial land claims commission complaining about the conduct of the chairperson of the Hlahlindlela board.
In the midst of these conflicts, someone started cutting out and selling pieces of land.
A person, who it seems, was not part of either the board or the community.
According to the Hlahlindlela board members, the person who has sold these stands to the people was doing so illegally as the land was bought for the people of KwaBhanya as part of the Government’s Land Restoration Programme.
“The people who were meant to move into that area were not expected to pay as the land was rightfully theirs,” a source informed the Vryheid Herald.
The matter was taken to court and notices were sent out to those currently vacating the Shoba area to seek residence elsewhere as they were currently living there illegally.
There is still a lot of commotion around the matter as the KwaBhanya people are said to be very angry and want their land back.