The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) is warning that farm invasions will take place if the government does not start taking action on the restitution of claims.
This warning came after an attempt by a group of restitution claimants to invade the Lohatlha Army Battle School in the Northern Cape on Wednesday morning.
Fifty-seven demonstrators were arrested and will appear in court on Friday.
The LPM — a national movement struggling for land reform — came out in strong support of the action taken by the Gatlhose, Maremane and Khosis communities, who attempted to reoccupy the land of their ancestors.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) denied that the group had invaded the base but claimed that they had arrived at the main gate of the training school, where they toyi-toyied and displayed placards.
Calling them land redistribution sympathisers, the SANDF said, ”the group has not shown any form of violence or unseemly behaviour towards the base and personnel”.
In a later statement the SANDF confirmed that the protesters were reported to have besieged the military camp and were then arrested by SANDF officers.
The Association for Community Rural Advance (Acra) that supports these communities slammed the SANDF for its involvement in the arrests, saying that it, rather than the South African Police Serive appeared to be handling the protesters.
The reason for the so-called invasion, says Marcia Manong, director of Acra, is that ”the community has become frustrated because they are not making progress on claims and they were promised alternative land”.
She says that 62 000ha of the army base belongs to the community. ”These people are feeling desperate.”
She says their actions are in response to the government’s ”failure to address the community’s constitutional right to land restitution”.
The three communities recently lost a Land Claims Court battle to reclaim their land after the SANDF applied to prevent a proposed partial land restoration.
The LPM supported the invasion, saying that it ties into its ”Year of the Landless in 2003” campaign, which calls on the government to expropriate land, and warns that if it does not do so, the LPM will launch a national campaign to occupy land.
The campaign will focus on three themes: to identify land for expropriation, to demand that all farm dwellers receive land of their own and the fight against HIV and Aids on World Aids Day.