North West government's failure to implement a court order granted eight years ago that a farm worth more than R31-million be transferred to the community is frustrating villagers.
Most of Magokgwane community members in Koster are very poor. They said government was slow in processing the transfer.
They also said they had now decided to go to the Constitutional Court to force government to implement the court order.
The farming community was kicked off their ancestral land by the apartheid government which took over the 4500 hectares farm in September 1978.
A land claim which was lodged in November 1998 was approved in 2001, but due to a dispute among community members the land could not be transferred.
The community sought the court order after resolving family disputes where some wanted only the 59 original land owners to benefit. Others wanted both the original land owners and the rest of people who made financial contributions to benefit from the land.
In October 2008, the Land Claims Court ruled that the descendants of the 59 original land owners, all current occupiers and tenants were the legitimate claimants of the farm.
After the case was won, the then Department of Land Affairs was ordered to transfer the land into Magokgwane Communal Property Association and be changed from Kafferskraal Farm to Magokgwane Farm, a process that has not been done to date.
The community, through elected Communal Property Association (CPA) members, resolved to demand caretakership of the farm in December 2010 from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform after realising that their farm was degrading and infrastructure collapsing.
They were granted their wish. They then moved their cattle to the farm and are currently taking care of it. However, they were not allowed to stay at the farm until the transfer was completed.
CPA secretary Ben Monye said the grazing and arable land was full of invasive alien plants. He said their forefathers' graves were also damaged by neighbouring cattle that were roaming the farm.
There are over 1000 community-owned cattle on the farm.
"Poverty and joblessness is busy ravaging our community. We vow not to fold our arms and continue to beg from government but to stand up and face the challenge," Monye said.
He said their cattle were at risk of being stolen. "We are now forced to hire herdsmen who are also not reliable. Some of our cattle have been stolen and it's also costly for us to travel 200 kilometres to the farm," he said.
Monye said the farm was valued at R25-million when they took over but that currently it is valued at over R31-million.
"We are going back to court to tell them that government is violating a court order," he said.
Regional land claims spokeswoman Poppy Mongae said the land could not be transferred because of a dispute among community members. She said the department appointed two lawyers to mediate between the parties in dispute. Mongae said they were finalising verification of direct descendants of the farm and the outcome of the land being transferred to Magokgwane CPA.
The community plans to plant crops and practice dairy farming as soon as they get the land back.
tshehleb@sowetan.co.za
State fails to return farm to its owners
North West government's failure to implement a court order granted eight years ago that a farm worth more than R31-million be transferred to the community is frustrating villagers.
Most of Magokgwane community members in Koster are very poor. They said government was slow in processing the transfer.
They also said they had now decided to go to the Constitutional Court to force government to implement the court order.
The farming community was kicked off their ancestral land by the apartheid government which took over the 4500 hectares farm in September 1978.
A land claim which was lodged in November 1998 was approved in 2001, but due to a dispute among community members the land could not be transferred.
The community sought the court order after resolving family disputes where some wanted only the 59 original land owners to benefit. Others wanted both the original land owners and the rest of people who made financial contributions to benefit from the land.
In October 2008, the Land Claims Court ruled that the descendants of the 59 original land owners, all current occupiers and tenants were the legitimate claimants of the farm.
After the case was won, the then Department of Land Affairs was ordered to transfer the land into Magokgwane Communal Property Association and be changed from Kafferskraal Farm to Magokgwane Farm, a process that has not been done to date.
The community, through elected Communal Property Association (CPA) members, resolved to demand caretakership of the farm in December 2010 from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform after realising that their farm was degrading and infrastructure collapsing.
They were granted their wish. They then moved their cattle to the farm and are currently taking care of it. However, they were not allowed to stay at the farm until the transfer was completed.
CPA secretary Ben Monye said the grazing and arable land was full of invasive alien plants. He said their forefathers' graves were also damaged by neighbouring cattle that were roaming the farm.
There are over 1000 community-owned cattle on the farm.
"Poverty and joblessness is busy ravaging our community. We vow not to fold our arms and continue to beg from government but to stand up and face the challenge," Monye said.
He said their cattle were at risk of being stolen. "We are now forced to hire herdsmen who are also not reliable. Some of our cattle have been stolen and it's also costly for us to travel 200 kilometres to the farm," he said.
Monye said the farm was valued at R25-million when they took over but that currently it is valued at over R31-million.
"We are going back to court to tell them that government is violating a court order," he said.
Regional land claims spokeswoman Poppy Mongae said the land could not be transferred because of a dispute among community members. She said the department appointed two lawyers to mediate between the parties in dispute. Mongae said they were finalising verification of direct descendants of the farm and the outcome of the land being transferred to Magokgwane CPA.
The community plans to plant crops and practice dairy farming as soon as they get the land back.
tshehleb@sowetan.co.za
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