L Xingwana: Greater St Lucia Land Handover Celebration

9 June 2007

His Majesty King Zwelithini Zulu
Amakhosi akhona lapha
Programme Director
MEC for the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, Mr Mtholephi
Mthimkhulu
The district and local mayors present here today
National Land Commissioner, Mr Thozi Gwanya
KZN Land Commissioner, Ms Mayu Sosibo
Claimants as well as beneficiaries
Members of the media
Distinguished guests

Today is a happy day, for restoration has come to the people of this area.
Today we are witnessing the fulfilment of the promise of our constitution to
the people. Today we say, "never again shall our people lose their rights in
land because of the colour of their skin!" This government is serious about
reversing the negative effect of racially motivated land dispossessions that
took place in this country. The department has noted with pleasure that the
highest court in the land, the constitutional Court, has recently found that
the individual members of the Popela Community in Limpopo, who were forcibly
removed by the individual white landowners, were in fact entitled to
restitution.

This year marks 94 years since the promulgation of the Native Land Act (Act
No. 27 of 1913) by the previous government. As a result of the Land Act and
many similar laws and practices, a large number of black people in this country
were disposed of their rights to land. In remembrance of what happened in June
1913, we have lined up a series of land handover celebrations involving large
land claims across the country. We are celebrating the settlement of the
Greater St Lucia Wetland Park which involves the Maphelane, False Bay, Makhasa,
Umngobokazi, Jobe, Myeni and Zikhali Communities. I want to commend all the
people who have been at the forefront of the process to see the settlement of
this claim. We thank them for their courage. They had vision and believed that
one day the people's rights to the land of their forefathers would be restored.
Today that vision is being realised.

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights is committed to protect the
rights of vulnerable groups, including women, the youth and people with
disabilities and strives to ensure that their rights are adequately addressed
in the development of business and land use plans for the restored land. No
less than 40% of the restitution beneficiaries during the 2006/07 financial
year were female-headed households. In this month of June alone about 4151 of
the benefiting households are female-headed. The role of women in the fight for
political freedom is well known. In the same manner, I would like to see the
women in this community play an active role in the new struggle for economic
emancipation.

I do not want to leave the young people in this community behind in my
address. This month we are celebrating Youth month as we reflect on the
revolutionary leadership displayed by young people in 1976. Young people have
the energy and agility to change things. Use that energy to make things happen
here in this community by taking part in the social and economic activities
that will flow from the settlement of this claim. The government is committed
to invest a lot of resources towards the economic and social upliftment of our
communities. Here in KwaZulu-Natal, the Mkhanyakude Municipality has been
identified as one of the suitable areas to pilot crop production for bio-fuel
crop feedstock. Also in the KwaZulu-Natal province alone, the government has
set aside a total of about R794 million as the total award which included
settlement and development grants towards the restitution claims settled in the
area during the 2006/07 financial year. For the settlement of this claim, the
state has committed a total of about R89 million. The significant thing about
this piece of land is that it has been declared a world heritage site.

I am saying to the people of this community, this government is on your
side, work together with the local and provincial government structures to tap
into the available assistance programmes, to improve your livelihood and thus
make an impact on the kind of life that your children and children's children
will have. The restitution programme is not a bed of roses. There are many
challenges, nonetheless, it gives me great pleasure to report that a lot of
ground has been covered. In the KwaZulu-Natal a total of 14 576 claims have
been settled to-date, benefiting a total of 51 417 households and 314 299
beneficiaries. Across the country, out of a total of 79 696 claims lodged with
the Commission, 74 417 claims have been settled as at 31 March 2007.

I am pleased that the communities comprising the Greater St Lucia Wetland
Park have agreed to restoration of rights without physical occupation and that
the current use of the land will be maintained. In terms of the settlement
agreement that will be signed today, the property will be managed with the
community by the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park Authority. The skills transfer
through training, mentorship and experiential management must take place in
order to ensure that the claimant get optimal benefit out of the settlement of
this claim. We do not have much time left to finalise all the restitution
claims. In order to speed up delivery, we have adopted 'Operation Gijima'. We
are saying to all our employees, kuya sheshwa la! Gijima! The people have been
waiting too long for the land. I am saying, SiyaGijima! Ha e duma ya tsamaya,
koloi ya lefatshe.

To address some of the challenges, the department has identified specific
strategies that we will be implementing to fast track the issue of land
delivery. The area based land reform planning is one area that we are focusing
on to consolidate the settlement support that government is offering to
beneficiaries of the land reform programme. To deal with the issue of
unnecessary delays caused by the land owners who refused to cooperate with
government on the issue of land reform, the state will now only negotiate for
six months and if no agreement is reached, we will implement expropriation as
provided for in the Restitution Act (Act No 22 of 1994), as amended.

The restitution programme is aimed at providing equitable redress to victims
of racial land dispossessions. It represents an apology by the democratic state
for the wrongs of the apartheid and colonial governments of the past. I trust
that this community will work hard to ensure that they leave behind a good
legacy for generations to come.

Malibongwe!!!
Igama lamakhosikazi!!!
I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Land affairs
9 June 2007
Source: Department of Land Affairs (http://land.pwv.gov.za)