Dan Fuphe
Dan Fuphe
At least between 11 and 15 people who benefited from the government's Restitution of Land Rights Act, in Payneville, Springs, did so fraudulently, Sowetan was told yesterday.
Their devious scheme is contained in several affidavits in the possession of Kenny Madalane, chairman of the Payneville Land Restitution Committee (PLRC).
The PLRC was formed in 1993 by about 5000 former Payneville residents to negotiate on their behalf for the return of their ancestral land with the Department of Land Affairs following hundreds of forced removals of blacks by the then apartheid regime between 1953 and 1973.
Madalane said while the PLRC was thrilled by the success of its efforts to have the land restored to its rightful owners, of the 350 applications between 11 and 15 were claims obtained by fraudulent means.
"To date, we have uncovered between 11 and 15 fraudulent claims by individuals who were never residents of Payneville.
"The PLRC has sworn affidavits obtained from persons who were allegedly paid to submit to the Land Claim Commissioner falsified information in favour of the bogus applicants.
"In nearly all these fake submissions the rightful stand owner(s), after being paid by the fraudster(s), would submit a false statement to the commission alleging that the bogus applicant at the time of the forced removals was either a sub-tenant or a child of the sub-tenant, who also resided on the stand," said Madalane.
He added that some of the alleged fraudsters have shown remorse and have asked the committee for forgiveness.
"But it is not for us to forgive them for their deeds. All we can do is to present the affidavits to the Land Claims Commissioner's Office for them to act," Madalane said.
According to Madalane, some of the alleged fraudsters were even issued title deeds as evidence of being the rightful owners.
Sowetan has been reliably informed that of the 3048 applications submitted for restitution, 2900 were still unprocessed.
While of the 350 confirmations, 13 had opted for financial compensation of R40000 a stand.
Two confirmations were awarded to the Methodist and AME Churches - with 14 and 4 stands respectively.
Fraudsters wanted to get hold of ancestral land .
Dan Fuphe
Dan Fuphe
At least between 11 and 15 people who benefited from the government's Restitution of Land Rights Act, in Payneville, Springs, did so fraudulently, Sowetan was told yesterday.
Their devious scheme is contained in several affidavits in the possession of Kenny Madalane, chairman of the Payneville Land Restitution Committee (PLRC).
The PLRC was formed in 1993 by about 5000 former Payneville residents to negotiate on their behalf for the return of their ancestral land with the Department of Land Affairs following hundreds of forced removals of blacks by the then apartheid regime between 1953 and 1973.
Madalane said while the PLRC was thrilled by the success of its efforts to have the land restored to its rightful owners, of the 350 applications between 11 and 15 were claims obtained by fraudulent means.
"To date, we have uncovered between 11 and 15 fraudulent claims by individuals who were never residents of Payneville.
"The PLRC has sworn affidavits obtained from persons who were allegedly paid to submit to the Land Claim Commissioner falsified information in favour of the bogus applicants.
"In nearly all these fake submissions the rightful stand owner(s), after being paid by the fraudster(s), would submit a false statement to the commission alleging that the bogus applicant at the time of the forced removals was either a sub-tenant or a child of the sub-tenant, who also resided on the stand," said Madalane.
He added that some of the alleged fraudsters have shown remorse and have asked the committee for forgiveness.
"But it is not for us to forgive them for their deeds. All we can do is to present the affidavits to the Land Claims Commissioner's Office for them to act," Madalane said.
According to Madalane, some of the alleged fraudsters were even issued title deeds as evidence of being the rightful owners.
Sowetan has been reliably informed that of the 3048 applications submitted for restitution, 2900 were still unprocessed.
While of the 350 confirmations, 13 had opted for financial compensation of R40000 a stand.
Two confirmations were awarded to the Methodist and AME Churches - with 14 and 4 stands respectively.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos