Issued by: The Ministry of Land Affairs
DESIGNATION OF LAND FOR SETTLEMENT PURPOSES IN THE DISTRICT OF WEENEN IN THE PROVINCE OF KWAZULU-NATAL
Under section 2(1)(c) of the Provision of Certain Land for Settlement Act of 1993, Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom designated the farm Rocky Drift Ranch for the purposes of settlement. A trust formed by the beneficiary group of Rocky Drift Ranch will hold the land on behalf of 232 families.
Following a long history of evictions of farm workers in the Muden and Weenen areas, the continued insecurity experienced by certain tenants residing on farms and ongoing threats of violence and stocktheft related to overcrowding, the above group requested assistance from the Department of Land Affairs to acquire land of their own.
The families currently reside in a number of areas in the district, but have identified the farm Rocky Drift Ranch as the place to which they wish to move as a group.
Through the Land Reform Pilot Programme in KwaZulu-Natal (which includes the Weenen and Muden districts) the beneficiary group entered into a process of land identification, protracted price negotiations with willing sellers and planning for settlement workshops. In January 1996 the beneficiary group submitted an application to the KwaZulu-Natal Land Reform Steering Committee for funding from the Grants and Services Programme of the Department of Land Affairs' Redistribution Programme.
The Ministry wishes to congratulate the beneficiary group on the organised way in which they have entered and participated in the process of acquiring land. We recognise the patience and restraint required in this long struggle to obtain land.
Through positive attitudes and extremely hard work this project has been made possible. In particular we thank the Muden Committee, Mr Jotham Mayaka and Ms Thelma Trench for assisting in facilitating the process. In conclusion, we wish to welcome the beneficiary group to the fold of South African land owners.
Further information may be obtained from Mr Richard Clacey or Mr Pieter Schaafsma at (0331) 94-6390 (Tel) or (0331) 94-3753 (Fax).
ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF LAND AFFAIRS, 24 APRIL 1996