War of words as neighbour claims stand
The case is being heard at the Nkhensani Traditional Council which is yet to make a ruling.
LIMPOPO –Â A 27-year-old resident of Mbhokota village, Manase Matamela, is unhappy after his neighbour claimed a large portion of his stand.
According to Matamela, the land (which can be subdivided) had belonged to his late father, and has one stand number as in the case in rural areas.
Years ago his neighbour, Johannes Dlomu Chabalala erected a market place on the side of the stand which borders the gravel road. This Matamela said, was also against his father’s wishes.
“I was still very young but I remember that my father and Chabalala had engaged in a bitter war of words. Passersby would buy liquor from him and then throw their bottles and cans over the fence into our yard,” Matamela lamented.
He added that there was a time when his father reported the matter to the police and a case was heard in the Hlanganani Magistrate’s Court in Waterval, and the neighbour was ordered to stop operations.
Now the case is being heard at the Nkhensani Traditional Council which is yet to make a ruling.
Matamela told Review he felt that his neighbour is taking advantage of the situation, since his father had passed away, and now wants to misuse the Office of the Council to swindle a portion of his land out of his name.
“If it is true that the stand belongs to him from 1998 as he so claims, why did he wait for over 24 years while we had fenced it and were staying there?” he asked.
“Chabalala would have to answer to that before the Council, he mustn’t take us for a ride. We were born into this land and our father left it for us.”
Meanwhile, Chabalala said that the space in contention was empty when he applied for it with the Council in 1998, and he was granted a permission to occupy letter (PTO).
“After I was given the PTO, the old Matamela saw me and the council official on that piece of land and he knew that I had been given the land. Within a few days he had fenced it off together with his original stand to make it one big yard,” Chabalala said. He claimed it was Chabalala Sr’s approach of the situation that caused him to abandon his plans on the yard.
“He was so fierce that my mother advised me to stay away. She said I would get killed, and I took her for her word and suspended the stand issue.”
Chabalala had apparently continued running his fruit market and spaza shop along the fence. He confirmed the case that was heard in Waterval, but refuted Chabalala’s version of events.
“The court official wrote a letter saying the space belonged to me, and Matamela Sr had no proof that he ran a car wash there, as he claimed. I would not have been fighting this hard for nothing.”
Meanwhile, Matamela is adamant that the stand belongs to him. He has vowed to, should the stand ownership be granted to Chabalala, he would take the matter to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
Council Chairperson, James Mgavini, confirmed that the case between Manase and Chabalala would resume in the Nkhensani Traditional Council court this week.
“We are working towards finding all evidence so that we can finally arrive at a fair and satisfactory ruling in this case.”
