TWO South African organisations that have threatened to invade farms have accused the government of wrongfully arresting 19 alleged land invaders in Kuruman in the Northern Cape. The Mpumalanga Labour Tenants Committee (MLTC) and the Free State Farming Community on Monday expressed their “anger and disappointment” with the arrests. The 19 members of the Groot Vlakfontein community invaded Vlakfontein Farm, on which they lodged a restitution claim in 1996. They are impatient with the slow processing of their land claim, based on their 1966 forced removal. Police arrested the invaders on Saturday, charging them with trespassing. MLTC spokesman Sipho Makhombothi said they were dismayed by the government’s speedy arrest of people claiming their land, while never arresting farmers who blatantly break laws such as the Extension of Security of Tenure Act. – African Eye News Service