A group of people allegedly belonging to Seshego Land Claims Community reportedly staged a sit-in as part of protest action at the Polokwane regional offices of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform last Thursday to demand additional land.
It was learnt that officials were threatened and the department was forced to shut down for two days as members occupied the offices overnight.
After the exercise, the national department issued a statement in which Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane was quoted to have said it was regrettable to note that elderly people are abused and taken advantage of in this manner in the promise that they would get land.
She stated that members of Seshego Land Claims Committee have never lodged a land claim during the opening of lodgement of land claims process that closed on 31 December 1998. Therefore, they are not claimants or beneficiaries of restitution, she added.
“There is no land claim lodged by the committee in our records. They also refused to not lodge a claim during the reopening in 2014.
The 1 500 members of the committee approached the department and registered their plight for land to be made available for residential purposes to cater for families, individuals and communities,” she said in a statement.
The department is also not aware of any agreement between the two parties with regard to the acquisition of more land for the community, she stressed and reiterated that the department cannot allow a situation where the plight of elderly citizens is exploited.
Nkoana-Mashabane recalled that the community was in 2013 granted 42 hectares under the Pro-Active Land Acquisition Strategy (Plas) programme based on an understanding to address and redress the circumstances faced by the community at that time.
The department condemns with strongest terms the illegal invasion of the offices and subsequence threatening of officials, she stated and concluded by saying they were still open for engagements with the members of the committee, however, proper procedures have to be followed to resolve any impasse with the department.
Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
