MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) - A group of 2 000 landowners in Limpopo and Mpumalanga are going to deal collectively with land claims in the two provinces.

This was announced in a media release on Monday, September 27.

“A group of 2000 landowners affected by the publication in the Government Gazette of the various notices regarding land claims announced the launching of an initiative to collectively deal with the validity of the land claims in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces,” the release states.

This announcement follows the continued gazetting of land claims, which may still prove to be invalid, by the respective Regional Land Claims Commissioners (RLCC).

The spokesperson for the landowners grouping, Mr Bertus Otto, said that decisions of the RLCC appear to be based on questionable research and have to be properly researched in order to fulfil the requirements of the Restitution Land Rights Act 1994 (Act No 22 of 1994) as amended.

The media release follows a meeting of representatives of landowners, held near Louis Trichardt on September 22. More than 50 role-players from Limpopo and Mpumalanga representing regions including the Soutpansberg, Levubu, Musina, Tshipise, Waterpoort, Bandelierkop, Mokopane (Potgietersrus), Hoedspruit, Tzaneen, Mooketsi and Lydenburg, attended the meeting.

Various groupings of landowners have been prepared to cooperate with the authorities to bring about fair restitution, transformation and development. A number of landowners have offered their properties for sale to the RLCC, irrespective of the validity of the applicable land claims. The community of landowners hopes that these offers by their colleagues would present an opportunity to settle land claims on an amicable basis.

“It is, however, disappointing to find that restitution, as executed by the RLCC, is untidy, not within the confines of the Act and does not allow for out-of-court type settlements. The first claims of which the validity was disputed by the landowners have been gazetted as early as May 2000 and are still unresolved, following the reluctance of the RLCC to settle or alternatively to refer the claims to the Land Claims Court,” the release states.

The media statement was made by four law firms acting on behalf of the landowners. The landowners resolved at the meeting to prepare proposals to be presented to the RLCC. The proposals would allow for transactions between willing sellers and the RLCC, while those who do not wish to sell would not be intimidated into acceptance of a land claim which may prove to be invalid.

“The longterm viability of the farming communities depended on the legitimate security of tenure to all landowners as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,” Mr Otto said.

It was further resolved that a charter be developed to guide landowners in their response to publications in the Government Gazette regarding the land claims.

“If land claims are not handled correctly, the whole region will lose,” said Mr André Naudé, chairperson of the region’s Chairpersons Association on Wednesday.