/ 1 July 2008

‘Where’s our R48m?’

Community demands details of a massive land claim settlement made on its behalf.

A Johannesburg community organisation has asked the Land Claims Court to order the Land Claims Commission to reveal details of a R48-million land settlement deal that has allegedly been reached with some of its members.

The Wildebeesfontein Evaton Community Organisation (Weco) — a NGO formed to fight the claim — has argued that it lodged the original claim and is therefore the only entity capable of negotiating a settlement with the government.

The claim, which the organisation argues was originally a farm called Wildebeesfontein and covers parts of the North West and Gauteng, was lodged on behalf of all community members by Weco.

Mondeor, Eldorado Park, Eikenhof, parts of Meyerton, Vereeniging, De Deur and Vanderbijlpark are some of the places listed as being part of the original farm.

In documents submitted as part of an application to interdict any further evictions taking place from the claimed land, Weco chairperson Themba Mthwalo says that his organisation launched a claim in December 1998 along with supporting documents.

”The regional land claims commissioner accepted the merits of the claim over [the entire] farm,” says Mthwalo.

He says that the same office even accepted the title deeds presented by community members.

The organisation has approached the Land Claims Court after originally approaching the Johannesburg High Court to interdict member evictions and the judge in that case ruled that the Land Claims Court was better suited to hear the matter.

After their case was withdrawn by their previous attorneys without their authorisation, the group finally managed to reinstate the case in September last year.

The application finally appeared before Fikile Bam, president of the Land Claims Court last month and the judge granted this week’s hearing on an urgent basis to consider the issue of the moratorium on all evictions.

Weco has cited a total of 18 respondents in their application including the police, major banks and various municipalities who they accuse of evicting their members.

As part of this application, counsel for Weco advocate Thembinkosi Ngqwangele asked the court to order the Land Claims Commission to furnish details of the R48-million settlement to ascertain the identity of those who received compensation.

”The applicant community was surprised to see an article in Sowetan newspaper on August 23 stating the Wildebeesfontein community was compensated to the tune of R48-million in settlement of their land claim action, but the applicant community knows of no such settlement,” says Mthwalo in his affidavit.

The settlement offer presented in 2004, agreed to by the former minister of land affairs Thoko Didiza in 2006, and in the possession of the Mail & Guardian shows that the majority of the 293 claimants accepted monetary compensation.

The settlement further shows an agreement for land described as ”Evaton and Evaton small farms, part of the Emfuleni Municipality”. It states that the affected community was dispossessed of its land between 1968 and 1982.

Mthwalo says the community inherited the land from a Mr and Mrs Adams after World War II.

A letter sent to Weco on August 10 2006 by the Director-General of the Department of Land Affairs and then chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya, shows that Weco’s claim was dismissed.

”I have been informed by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights Gauteng and North West provinces that a detailed investigation into the claim lodged for Wildebeesfontein farm established that the claim did not meet the criteria as set out by section 2(1) of the Restitution of Land Rights Act (Act 22 of 1994 as amended). The claim therefore was dismissed on August 14 2003,” the letter states.

In response to this Mthwalo’s affidavit states: ”Numerous aspects of the land claim were discussed at the meeting with the land claims commissioner and the commissioner acknowledged the claim but it is with regret that the commissioner dismissed the application.”

Weco’s legal team say they need access to further details of the R48-million settlement before deciding whether the court should review the claim as part of the restitution legislation that allows the court to reconsider all disputed settlements.

The judge will now consider the matter of setting down a separate hearing to hear argument on the original claim by the community and the circumstances that led to the R48-million settlement.

Spokesperson for the Commission of Restitution of Land Rights, Pulane Molefe, said the commission was not in a position to comment because the case was subjudice.