L Xingwana: Land handover to Moletele Community claim

1 July 2007

Programme Director
The MEC for Agriculture Mme Dikeledi Magadzi
The Archbishop Barnabas Lekganyane
Members of Parliament here present, Chair of Health, Chair of Agriculture, Dr
Humadi Mateme
Magoshi (traditional leaders) and House of Traditional Leaders
Kgosi Chiloane
Maruleng Mayor, Mr Junior Mafogo le Me Speaker and all councillors
present
Mr Motsepe Matlala, President of National African Farmers' Union (Nafu),
strategic partners
Land Claims Commissioner for Mpumalanga, Mr Peter Mhangwani
The Chief Land Claims Commissioner, Mr Thozi Gwanya
Limpopo Land Claims Commissioner, Mr Mashile Mokono
Claimants as well as beneficiaries
Members of the media
Distinguished guests

Halala boMastene ba Moletele Halala! Halala BaTau Halala!
Le boile Lefatshe le boile!
O a sa reng shate oa duma! Megolokwane!
Lehono ke letsatsi la lethabo. Re thabile ge lefase la setshaba sa Moletele le
busetswa morago. Go tloga ka 1920 go fihla ka 1970 setshaba se se be se lla
meogo ya tlaisego.
Lehono bakgalabje le bakekolo le lla meogo ya lethabo. Le keteka gore mmu�o o
arabile sello sa lena. We could not feel better than this.

I am so delighted today, that we are here to witness yet another milestone
in reversing the injustices of the apartheid indignity and humiliation meted
out against the defenceless majority of black South Africans. The Moletele
Community and Kgoshi Chiloane had to watch helplessly as their ancestral land
was taken away for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the apartheid
government. The most painful part of our history is that the State, which is
supposed to be the defender and protector of the weak and less fortunate, was
at the forefront of this racist brutality. The passing of notorious and
racially exclusive laws such as the Native Land Act of 1913, the Group Areas
Act and the Native Trust and Land Act of 1936 reflected the most highhanded
action by the State aimed at subjugating those who were viewed as less
deserving of humane treatment.

The apartheid government designed special laws and policies that ensured
that the Moletele Community and many other black communities do not own prime
land in their own country. They tried every trick in the book to strip the
Moletele Community of its heritage, its own ancestral land and the right to
leave peacefully with the people that you know. Some members of this Community
were reduced to labour tenants whilst others were evicted from this beautiful
land through the Group Areas legislation and other racist laws.

Those of you who refused to be humiliated through the labour tenancy system
were swiftly issued with trek-passes. You were banished to the former homelands
where grinding poverty would be the order of the day. Your means of livelihood
was taken away so that you could become a source of cheap labour; to boost the
struggling poor whites that were being turned into farmers. All this was done
in an attempt to deal with the "poor-white-problem". It is common knowledge
that the African peasants were doing extremely well against their white
counterparts and thus the devious apartheid state had to come to the white
farmer's rescue by creating a cheap labour pool for them.

Today we are here to say never again shall our people be discriminated
against, because of the colour of their skin. Never again shall our people be
made strangers on their own land. The Moletele Community had not done anyone
any wrong to deserve the forcible removals.

Today marks a new epoch in the history of our country and that of the
Moletele Community as we give back this beautiful land to you today. It is a
watershed in the land ownership patterns of the area of Hoedspruit here in
Limpopo as the Moletele Community becomes the biggest landowner in this area.
This government is fulfilling the promise it made to its people in terms of the
Constitution where we undertook to provide all the victims of racial land
dispossession with justice and equitable redress. We are saying there shall be
restitution in Hoedspruit!

Yes, under the rule of law; there shall be restitution in this Mopani
District, in this province and in South Africa.

When you voted in 1994 you voted for change. We are committed to that
change; it can not be business as usual. Those who were denied the opportunity
to participate in the economy must now be enabled to be the key role players in
economic developments that take place on their land.

Hoedspruit is well-known for its commercial citrus and cash crop production.
Today I am here to announce that the 3 453 hectares that was taken away from
you is now your land! These 27 farms make you the biggest owner of prime
agricultural and eco-tourism land in this area. We have spent R76 million to
buy this land from the previous owners. Those who spread lies that we do land
grabs in this country must ask the 25 landowners from Hoedspruit, they will
tell them we have paid them for this land. We honour our Constitution.

This land that we are restoring today has some of the best oranges and
mangos this country has ever produced. As from today the people of Moletele are
now exporters. You are going to be operating from the well-equipped pack-house
that we have included in the purchase of this land. The pack-house is also used
for the processing and packaging of atchaar. Re tlo ja atchaar e Proudly South
African ya go tswa mo Moletele farms. Every home and every employer in this
province must enjoy the proudly "Moletele atchaar" Berekang.

We have also bought two mango drying plants. These will enable the Moletele
Community to engage in value-adding processes on their mangos. These farms also
produce sweet-corn, seed maize and tomatoes. All of these production processes
clearly contribute to the objectives of Accelerated and Shared Growth
Initiatives for South Africa (AsgiSA), which include job creation, poverty
eradication, Agri processing improvement of the quality of life for all our
people. Le bereke he Batau. Di orange tsena tsentle le ditamati tse dibatla
matsoho a lona le a bomme ba lona lehumo le tsimmong.

As we restore this land to you today, we cannot be oblivious to the
challenges of sustainable land reform which lie ahead for all of us. It is out
of this realisation that the Limpopo Provincial Government, through the
Department of Agriculture, Maruleng Local Municipality and Trade and Investment
Limpopo, in the true spirit of co-operative governance has joined hands with
the Office of the Regional Land Claims Commissioner, Moletele Community,
strategic partners and the Development Bank of Southern Africa in establishing
a strategic partnership which seeks to bring about a lasting legacy in land
restitution.

We are proud to announce that two strategic partnership companies have been
established wherein the Moletele Community owns 50% of the shares whilst the
strategic partners own 48% and the workers twp percent, respectively. We hail
this as a true AgriBEE deal which seeks to ensure continued production on the
restored land whilst creating room for empowerment and skills transfer to the
new landowners. Furthermore, we have managed to facilitate another joint
venture between the community and Molt, wherein Molt will establish a
multi-million rand and state-of-the-art fruit and vegetable processing plant on
the land we are giving back today. This venture will result in the community
being awarded free shares up to 34% over a number of years, black economic
empowerment (BEE) and eventual ownership of the processing plant, Agri
processing at the end of the partnership. This deal will also accelerate
value-adding in the produce coming from this land of milk and honey. This will
ensure participation of the Moletele Community in the entire value-chain. These
partnerships give credence to economic empowerment because the community will
not only receive hand-outs in the form of lease rentals but will be
participating in the day-to-day management of the farms. We commend all the
strategic partners for their commitment to making South Africa a winning nation
for all its people and call on more white commercial farmers to rise to the
occasion. Freedom Charter: 'South Africa belongs to all of us Black and White'
Berekang.

Whilst we are celebrating this partial victory of the Moletele Community, it
is important to remind ourselves of the fact that the Moletele Community has
claimed 78 000 hectares of land and today we are restoring 3 453 hectares. It
does not need a mathematical genius to realise that the large chunk of land is
still outstanding. We are currently finalising the second phase of this land
claim where we will see more land going to the community.

However, we need to point out that there are still pockets of landowners who
are opposed to this process of redistributive justice. These are individuals
who are just clutching onto grass straws in the midst of a raging flood. We are
saying the process of land restitution in South Africa is like a moving train
without brakes or reverse gear. "Terene ena e ya pele fela. Ga e boele morago.
Ke koloi ya basadi ntwe ga etshetshele morago e ya ko pele." Therefore, those
who want to stand in the way of the train are doing so at their own peril. We
are aware that there are some landowners who are challenging this claim in
Court. I wish the successful partnerships that have already been established
would make them repent. O ka re ba ka sokologa ba swana le ba bangwe bontate ba
re nang le bone bome.

To date, the Commission of Restitution of Land Rights has finalised 74 417
out of a total of 79 676 claims lodged by 31 December 1998 nationwide. This
represents 90% of the total lodged land claims countrywide. In Limpopo, in
particular, we are left with 781 land claims to wrap up the restitution
process. The Commission is working tirelessly to finalise the remaining claims,
which happen to be of a rural and complex nature. Sipogo Sifihlile! Gijima!

Challenging claims such as Makgobaskloof, Waterpoort and Ba-Phalaborwa in
Limpopo are amongst these remaining claims. It is against this background that
we are saying to the landowners who are still opposed to land restitution "we
do not have time, ga re na nako". We are continuing to implement our six months
maximum timeframe for negotiations and this, coupled with the delegation of
powers of finalisation of claims to the Chief Commissioner and regional
commissioners, is bearing very positive results.

Programme Director, I will be committing a grave injustice if I were to
conclude without expressing my appreciation towards the Officials of our
Limpopo Office of the Land Claims Commissioner as well as those coming from the
Limpopo Department of Agriculture, Trade and Investment Limpopo (TIL), Maruleng
Municipality and Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) for their tireless
efforts in making sure that the Moletele Community is awarded its land back in
a sustainable manner. I am saying, please roll-up your sleeves further and
scale up these efforts so that we can deliver on our mandate.

In conclusion, we are saying to Kgoshi Chiloane and the Moletele Community:
Lehono le bo rapolasa, bo Mastene. Le swanetse go tseba gore lefase le re le
busetsang lona lehono ga le a tla mahala. Batho ba bantshi ba hwile ba lwela
naga ye. Bjale re re le swanetse go tswela pele le swarane bjale ka pele. Ga re
nyake go kwa gore le ya lwa ka baka la lefase le. Lefase le le swanetse go
tlisa lehumo le mesomo go setshaba sa Moletele le Afrika Borwa ka moka. We know
that there are those who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the
land to return so that they can satisfy their selfish interests. We are saying
to them that we will not tolerate such opportunism.

When the Community experiences problems, the government's door is always
open. Communicate with the municipality and the provincial government in order
to resolve your challenges. These farms must feed the nation so that we can
truly move back the frontiers of poverty. You must use this land to empower the
youth and women of your community, who have always been marginalised when it
comes to participation in the economic mainstream. Let the Moletele Community
be a shining example of true emancipation of the downtrodden.

Today we are restoring only about 25 farms of the many farms that you have
claimed. You are aware that the landowners of about 40 000 hectares of the
claimed land are in denial and sent cases before the Land Claims Court.

I want to remind these arrogant land owners that restitution is a
Constitutional mandate. We are doing everything possible to ensure that land
reform is implemented under rule of Law.

The recent Popela Judgment passed by the highest court of the land, the
Constitutional Court has confirmed that the Popela Community, who were removed
in a similar manner as the Moletele Community, have a right to restitution.

The poor arguments by the land owners that our people were never a
community, that they were only labour tenants and that the removal from the
farm was only limited to the end of the job on the farm. The Constitutional
Court said no to all of that. It is for this reason that we are encouraging
those in Court to come back and talk to us. They must do so soonest; otherwise
they leave us with no other option but to expropriate. The people of Moletele
want their land now and not later!

Today we are here to restore the 3 453 hectares of land, which we bought for
R76 million. I took a tour of some of these farms today and I have seen good
Mango farms beautiful good oranges farms, good tomato farms. I have seen the
Pack House to process the farm produce. I have been informed that no workers
have lost their jobs as a result of this land restoration instead I have been
told new jobs will be created.

Halala Ba Tau Halala!

Today, I am here to announce that on top of the title deeds that we are
going to give you today, including the Pack House, you are going to get
development grants amounting to R3,6 million. You will use these grants to
improve this land that we are giving to you today.

Above all, I want to thank Kgoshi Chiloane and the Moletele Communal
Property Association (CPA) Executive for showing other communities that Magoshi
and our CPAs can work harmoniously for a common purpose. Let the Moletele
Community at large, including those who have not been closer to the process,
support these people so that this people's government can prove to its
detractors that it was not a mistake to legislate for this land restitution
programme but a noble and necessary course.

Le boile lefatshe la moletele!
Lefatshe! Larona!
Malibongwe! Igama lamakhosikazi!
Kea leboga. Thobela!

Issued by: Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs
1 July 2007