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Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System --------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Jun 2006 Title: Department to act "drastically" against uncooperative landowners --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- By Oupa Segalwe Lichtenburg - Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulama Xingwana said her department would "deal drastically" with landowners who deliberately delayed the land restoration process. Ms Xingwana said this during the handing-over ceremony of about 478 hectares of land to the Bafokeng ba ga Mafethe community in Bessiesvlei Farm, in the Central Region of the North West yesterday. The Minister's remarks come amid the revelation by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights (CRLR) that, in the North West alone, it had been experiencing resistance from landowners who deliberately delayed the restoration process. According to the commission, the landowners generally challenged the validity of claims and refused commission officials access to the land for inspection. Ms Xingwana said her department would ensure that the mandate to restore land back to its rightful owners was not compromised by unco-operative landowners. "Indeed we will take drastic actions to deal with these individuals, who think they can frustrate our programme," she said. She added that it should be noted that the land reform programme was not adversarial, but rather reconciliatory. The Minister however acknowledged that the land restitution programme was still faced with challenges regarding the usage of land by claimants after restoration. These challenges include among others, the lack of skills from the new emerging farmers, lack of mentorship programmes and disputes among the claiming communities. In terms of lack of skills, she said the recently launched Royal Agricultural Colleges Fellowship Programme (RACFP) in the United Kingdom will come handy for the emerging farmers. "Through this programme, the department will attract those who have experience in the land reform, agriculture or natural resource management to be further trained in the UK to acquire the necessary skills," the Minister said. The programme is linked to the Accelerated and Shared Initiative for South Africa (Asgi-SA) and it is aimed at alleviating poverty in the country and the SADC region. A representative for the Bafokeng bag a Mafethe, Madala Mafethe told BuaNews that prior to 1994, the family did not have hope that they would one day restore their great-grandfather's land. Mr Mafethe said the family planned to do some intensive farming on the land. "We have seen situations where people are given back their land but due to the lack of skills, resources and interest, they fail to use the land in a sustainable way. Our intention is to use this land economically," he said. The Commission for the Restitution of Land Rights has, thus far, made major progress in the district by ensuring that over 300 of the 541 claims lodged in the district have been settled. These claims form part of the 1715 that have been lodged in the entire province. The are about 25 remaining claims, while 99 have been dismissed as they did not meet the Commissions' requirements to process them. The Commission on was established following the amendment of the Restitution Act of 1994, which sought to provide restitution of land rights to persons or communities dispossessed of land as a result of past racial discriminatory practices. It aims to provide equitable redress and restoration of land to victims of these dispossessions, particularly the landless and the rural poor and to contribute towards the equitable redistribution of land in the country, among other things. The deadline for all Land Claims Commission activities was to be finalised last year. However, President Thabo Mbeki announced in his State of the Nation address last year that the lifespan of the Commission would be extended, pushing back the deadline to end of March 2008 to allow for the processing of outstanding claims.-BuaNews |
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