Discussion on Wolvenkop Petition and preparations for the oversight visit to Wolvenkop; Report on strategic planning workshop

Meeting report

Opening Remarks by the Chairperson
The Chairperson welcomed all the new Members to the Committee. He explained that the Committee dealt with core issues that were happening on the ground. The Committee fulfilled an important role and could empower Members if ever they wanted to introduce legislation. Lastly, he briefly outlined the meeting agenda.

Wolvenkop Petition
The Chairperson indicated that the Committee had to deal with the long outstanding Wolvenkop Petition. Preparations had been made for Members to visit Gauteng so that they could interact with the affected parties and ultimately assist the petitioners.

Ms Salome Meso, Committee Researcher, explained that the petition concerned a land dispute involving Wolvenkop farm in the Gauteng province. The petitioners felt that they were entitled to the land that they were settled on due to the fact that they as well as their forefathers were born and raised on the land. As a result of the uncertainty, the matter was referred to the former Department of Land Affairs. The petitioners were surprised when Mr Hendrik Petros Masango became the caretaker of the property and threatened to evict the people who had been staying on it. The occupiers had an understanding that the farm was state property but were allowed to stay on it and their cattle was allowed to graze that land.

Ms Meso indicated that she had followed up with the provincial Department of Rural Development in Gauteng to seek clarity on the issue. It was confirmed that the land belonged to the State and that an arrangement had been reached whereby Mr Masango would continue as caretaker and the Department would assist the occupiers to get a piece of land that belonged to them as they had the core rights to the farm. The Department was also supposed to assist Mr Masango with the processes of getting alternate land but all of this had not happened. The Wolvenkop case had been dragging on since 1999. The Gauteng provincial Land and Reform office had informed the Committee that they had held several meetings with the community and with the caretaker but they could not resolve the issue and that they had finally opted for mediation.

Ms Meso said that the Committee would get a presentation on the mediation report in Gauteng. The Committee had also contacted the Director General’s office in the Department of Rural Development so that someone with comprehensive background knowledge would assist them in addressing the issue. All affected parties had indicated that that they would make oral representations to the Committee.

The Chairperson said that the whole purpose of going to Gauteng was for the Committee to exercise its powers and to ensure that the petitioners were heard. At the end of the day, the Committee must be able to produce whatever recommendations it thought would be necessary to assist the community on the farm.

Mr T Mofokeng (ANC; Free State) asked why it took so long to finalise the matters.

Ms Meso answered that the issue had been brought before the Department of Land Affairs in 1999 but was only brought to the attention of the Committee in July 2009. She added the Committee should address this question to the Department.

The Chairperson stated that he understood the background of Mr Mafokeng’s question as there were other outstanding cases that were referred to the Committee. He said that they needed to find a way of dealing with outstanding issues.

The Chairperson said that people should be made aware of the Committee so that they did not feel the need to resort to counterproductive behaviour in an attempt to get their grievances heard. He People were unaware about the existence of the Committee. Members should create awareness by exploiting all available avenues. The Committee should examine whether it was effective and what the challenges were so that it could serve the people better.

Mr F Adams (ANC; Western Cape) asked how many Members would be going on the trio to Gauteng.

The Chairperson answered that seven members would be going.

Mr Adams said that for them to equip and familiarise themselves they should have another briefing session on Thursday 12 November 2009.

The Chairperson agreed that they would definitely have another session so that they could get more information that would enable them to effectively engage with the community.

Mr Adams asked if Members would be provided with any written documentation on this matter.

The Chairperson replied that Members would be supplied with a package that contained all the relevant information.

Mr Adams asked that the researcher forward the packages to the relevant Members by the end of that day so they could familiarise themselves with all the issues as soon as possible.

Report on Strategic Planning Workshop.
The Chairperson enquired whether the Committee should deal with the report on its strategic planning workshop, noting that most of the Members were recently appointed to the Committee and had not been part of the workshop.

Mr A Matila (ANC; Gauteng) pointed out that Members were not given sufficient time to engage with the document as they had only received it shortly before the meeting.

The Chairperson agreed with this observation and decided that this issue should be deferred to the next meeting.

Consideration and Adoption of Minutes
The Chairperson tabled the minutes for consideration.

Members adopted the minutes without amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.