Issued by: Commission on Restitution of Land Rights
The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has submitted four more Land Claims Court for finalisat also expected that close to 60 claims will be referred to the Court in the next 8 to 10 weeks.
In aia statement the Chief Land Claims Commissioner, Mr Joe Seremane, also announced that more than 13 000 claims have been registered with the Commission. The total of 13171 consist of 10 511 urban and 2660 rural claims.
The four claims submitted to the LCC are the Schmidtsdrift and Kono claims in the Northern Cape, Groote Springfontein in the Western Cape and the Cremin claim in KwaZulu-Natal. The claims being finalised for referral to the Land Claims Court include controversial areas such as Mayeng and Lohatlha in the Northern Cape, Putfontein and Ratsegai in the North West province, the Makuleke claim on a portion of the Kruger National Park, and the St Lucia (Eastern Shores) and Sabokwe, Richards Bay, claims in KwaZulu-Natal.
Expressing his satisfaction with the expected sharp increase in claims finalised, Mr Seremane said that it would hopefully lead to greater understanding of the problems and difficulties encountered by the Commission in finalising claims.
"The Cremin case now submitted to the LCC is a good example of the intricacies involved in finalising some of the claims. Through the negotiations conducted by the Regional Land Claims Commissioner for KwaZulu-Natal an agreement between all parties concerned was already reached in May 1996, but even now there has been no final agreement between the landowner and the state on the purchase price to be paid. The Regional Land Claims Commissioner also had to obtain full details such as certified photocopies of ID documents from more than a hundred people involved in the claim, and the file submitted to the Court on this claim alone is five centimetres thick.
"The long time it has taken to get the restitution process up and running with a steady flow of cases to go to the Court, was also unacceptable to the Commission. It is therefore understandable that there are attempts to look at the possibility of speeding up the process, such as the proposed "Fast-Track" procedure.
"Unfortunately some of these ideas show a regrettable lack of knowledge and insight into the difficulties and intricacies involved in finalising a claim and it would be advisable to give very careful consideration to any drastic changes in the Act. The principle is noble, but great care should be given to modus operandi."
Mr Seremane also expressed concern about operations of some developers within areas where claims have been lodged. Little consideration is paid by developers to the possible obstruction of the restitution process by their actions, culminating in prejudicing legitimate claims. The large majority of unjustly dispossessed prospective claimants are powerless in terms of resources to protect their rights. He further called for developers, local authorities and parastatals to consider the national role of the Land Reform Programme in general and Restitution specifically. Restitution is a key element in rectifying injustices of the past.
Details of the four claims now before the LCC are as follows:
The Schmidtsdrift claim was lodged by the Schmidtsdrift Community Trust in 1992 with the Commission on Land Allocation and transferred to the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights in 1994. The land being claimed consists of several areas in extent approximately 31 000 hectare, situated some 70 kilometres west of Kimberley. The community were moved to compensatory land in the Kuruman area in 1968 as part of the removal of so-called Black Spots.
The land was transferred to the South African Defence Force in 1978 and it is still being utilised by the SANDF. In 1990 at the independence of Namibia some 4000 people of the San communities (the XU and the KHWE groups) who were employed by the SADF in Caprivi and southern Angola, were brought to South Africa and settled at Schmidtsdirf.
According to the report submitted to the Court, an agreement in principle has been reached between the SANDF and the claimants in terms of which the land will be handed back to the claimants.
Various matters such as the resettlement of the San Community and the clearing of the land of any dangerous objects such as unexploded ammunition, are still being discussed between the parties.
Detailed planning for resettlement and development of the area is already being undertaken and will be implemented as soon as the agreement is ratified by the Land Claims Court. A pre-trial conference of all parties concerned has been scheduled for 6 February 1997.
KONO
The Kono Community Trust instituted a claim on 12 farms in the Kuruman district from which they were removed in 1959 in terms of the so-called Black Spot Removal Act. Most of the 137 families involved were moved to compensatory land some 30 kilometres away while others preferred to move to the Batlhaping section at Manyeding and Seoding. The Kono land was let out to white farmers and later sibdivided in 12 farms of which nine were sold to farmers.
According to the Regional Land Claims Commissioner's submission to the Land Claims Court only one of the nine present owners are willing to negotiate the sale of land to the state. The others have indicated through the Northern Cape Agricultural Union that they are opposed to the restitution process and have no wish to negotiate the sale of their land for this purpose.
After protracted attempts to negotiate with the farmers, the Regional Land Claims Commissioner has now decided to submit the claim to the Land Claims Court for adjudication with a recommendation that expropriation of the relevant farms be considered.
GROOTE SPRINGFONTEIN:
The farm Groote Springfontein No 1, situated close to Atlantis in the Western Cape, was expropriated by the state in 1976 to form part of the Atlantis development area for persons of the former Coloured group.
Compensation of R735 000 was paid to owners, Ms Lochline Bekker and Ms Luceel Beukes. The owners lodged a claim with the Commission on Land Allocation in 1992 on the basis that development never took place and that they wished to have the land restored.
The Commission recommended that the claimants and the House of Representatives under whose jurisdiction the land fell at the time, negotiate the resale of the land to the claimants. An offer was made to the claimants but no sale was concluded.
The Commission has now been informed by the parties concerned that an agreement in principle on the resale of the land to the claimants has been reached. While details of this agreement are still being awaited the matter is being submitted to the Court for ratification.
CREMIN:
The Cremin claim arises from the forced removal of 114 land- owners from the farm Trekboer, commonly known as Cremin, in the Klip River District, close to Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal, under the removal of so called "black spots". They were relocated to Ezakheni. The claim was lodged with the Commission on 26 April 1995 and gazetted on 30 June 1995.
The Commission could only trace 103 of the original owners or their descendants but steps are being taken to secure the rights of the missing owners should they be traced later. A number of tenants were also removed at the time but no claims have been received from these tenants.
On 16 May 1996 an agreement was reached through the RLCC for KwaZulu-Natal between the claimant committee and the executor of the estate of the registered landowner in terms of which the state would enter into negotiations with the executor to purchase the land for restoration to the claimants. The agreement of sale between the state and the executor has not been concluded because of a dispute concerning accrued interest on a state loan.
The Land Claims Court is requested to confirm the agreement between the various parties, to order that the land be purchased by the state (or be expropriated if necessary) and that the property be subdivided into the various subdivisions that existed at the date of dispossession and be restored to the claimants.
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CHIEF LAND CLAIMS COMMISSIONER. MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Thys Human 012 341 7900 Cell 0825598597
22 January 1997