Committee directs Department of Land Reform to institute inquiry into rightful beneficiaries of Gwatyu land
The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has kick-started its week-long oversight visit to Gwatyu in the Eastern Cape where there is a contestation on ownership of land.
The committee first met with King Dalimvula Matanzima of the Western Thembuland where it heard the historical account of the displacement of communities from Gwatyu. Thereafter the committee was briefed by the National and Provincial Departments of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
The committee heard from the Deputy Minister of the department, Mr Mcebisi Skwatsha, that the work of the department was hindered by violence and threats against officials by some of the members of the community when it attempted to do research by visiting households in the area to gather information.
The committee also heard that there was no legitimate Communal Property Association (CPA) in Gwatyu and that the department had tried to intervene to meet with members of the community but that was unsuccessful. The Deputy Minister of the department, Ms Nokuzola Capa, also informed the comittee that when the department visited Gwatyu in order to determine who are the rightful landrights holders, she found that there were people who had their own agenda to own the land with intentions of using it for their own benefit.
The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights informed the committee that there were land claims for Gwatyu from the AmaTshatshu Traditional Council. However, the Commisison discovered that the land claim did not meet the 1913 cut-off date. The former farmworkers and labour tenants also have beneficial occupation rights to the land. The committee heard that the status quo in Gwatyu is complex as the land belongs to the state.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, said that the rejection of their claim to their ancestral land on the basis of the 1913 cut-off date is a gross injustice to the people of Gwatyu and that the 1913 cut-off date must be reviewed. Inkosi Mandela further asked the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to confirm if there was a recognised and functional traditional council of the Amashatshu traditional authority in Gwatyu and asked for a description of its territory.
The committee heard that there was indeed an amaTshatshu Traditional Council and their area of jurisdiction would be communicated in writing since the representative of the department did not have the information with him.
The committee heard from Ms Wilmien Wicombe of the Legal Resources Centre that the community of Gwatyu has been waiting for 25 years for the right to security of tenure and that there has been no solution for them to date.
Ms Wicombe emphasised that community members she represented have beneficial occupation rights in terms of the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (Act 31 of 1996). However, the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development had reported that there are 77 farms, 95 land parcels in Gwatyu and 35 farms have been allocated according to clusters, and there are 668 families allocated to 75 farms.
Inkosi Mandela directed the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development to immediately institute a land rights inquiry into who the rightful beneficiaries of the land in Gwatyu are.
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