Follow up your land right claim

I WAS really astonished to hear about the campaign by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to trace land restitution claimants.

These are people who lodged claims by December 31, 1998, but have not been in contact with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights regarding their claims.

This is an awful situation where you might find that these people are living in abject poverty while their money is in the coffers of the department.

Since the department's efforts to trace these claimants have been unsuccessful, they have been categorised as untraceable.

There are claimants who opted for financial compensation but have not come forward to collect their vouchers, issued by the department, in settlement of their claims.

There are also claims that are not finalised due to incomplete information such as copies of identity documents of claimants and family history.

In most instances the commission has not been able to find the affected individuals due to outdated contact details.

The land restitution programme is a critical tool through which government seeks to deal with the restoration of land rights to those who were dispossessed.

My appeal to those who have lodged a claim with the department is to visit the commission and find out if there is money awaiting collection.

Thina Tema, Johannesburg