Question NW2129 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
14 October 2020 - NW2129
Steyn, Ms A to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What is the current status of land claim LCC 37 / 2018; (2) whether she has been informed that the claim was originally gazetted in the 1997-98 financial year and again in June 2014; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the reason for the specified claim not being finalised; (3) whether she has been informed that the current owner could not develop this land since the land claim was gazetted in 1997; (4) (a) what are the relevant details of the persons who are beneficiaries of this land claim and (b) will she furnish Mrs A Steyn with the research document for the claim?
Reply:
1. The current land owner referred the matter to court towards the end of 2018 as he did not accept the offer that was presented by the Office of the Valuer General. The Office of the Valuer General informed the Regional Land Claims Commissioner that a new valuer should be appointed, as the original valuation did not take into account Section 25 Subsection 3 of the Constitution. The office has since appointed a valuer.
2. Yes, the claim was gazetted in 1997-1998 financial year and gazetted in 2014. The 1997-1998 gazette was based on the Rule 3 Research Report of the Commission. Further investigation had to be conducted in terms of Rule 5, and that led to the gazette of 2014;
The claim has not been finalised. The office had the following delays in settlement of the claim:
- The Tsitsikamma Development Trust (TDT) was formed on the 9th March 1994 with the assistance of the Legal Resources Centre (LRS), to coordinate and manage the affairs of all the land that was dispossessed from AmaMfengu. It was during this time when the then Department of Land Affairs gave some farms to the community through what was known as Allocation Advisory Commission on Land (ACLA). The properties were registered to the Tsitsikama Development Trust.
- Community verification: some members of community not in agreement on the actual number of Originally Dispossessed Individual families.
- Board of Trustees: legal timeframe lapsed for elections of the new board of trustees and tensions between community and Tsitsikama Development Trust made it difficult for the office to process the claim
- Multiple Executive Committees: many community representative structures were formed as the Tsitsikama Development Trust was no longer regarded as a legitimate structure, thus the office not allowed by the community and Trust of Deeds Act to engage with the Tsitsikama Development Trust.
3. No
4. (a) The beneficiaries are the Amamfengu Community
(b) Yes, the report will be made available.