A dispute over who may occupy stands in areas under control of a traditional leader flared up in Maila Village. A resident is claiming that the local vhamusanda had resold his site to another person, who has now gone ahead and developed it.

Mr Oliver Nthabalala, who claims to be a resident of Maila village, alleges that he had paid R3 000 to Vhamusanda Vho-Khishimusi Nthabalala for his site and that he had also had to pay the tribal council their fees. He subsequently put up a fence around the site.

Nthabalala told Limpopo Mirror that he was surprised to arrive at the stand, only to find that a certain Mr Timpson Sithole had started to take down his fence. He was also prevented from occupying what he believes to be his site. Sithole told him that he had bought the stand from the local traditional leader.

“I am the rightful owner, and this stand belongs to me. So, I cannot just keep quiet when Sithole takes my stand without permission. I warned him not to start erecting a fence until these issues are sorted,” he said. He referred Limpopo Mirror to the tribal authority that controls the land to confirm whom the site belongs to.

When contacted about the dispute, the secretary of the Nthabalala Tribal Council, Mr Patrick Mukwevho, said that Nthabalala was the rightful owner of the stand. He said Nthabalala had followed the correct procedures when buying the stand.

“The stand belongs to Oliver,” said Mukwevho. He said the tribal council was not aware of the sale of the stand to Sithole and this transaction had not been registered at the tribal council’s office. “We are not aware of the sale. We have launched an investigation into how the stand was sold,” he said. “We summoned the two to the tribal council, and told Sithole to remove his fence and go and talk to the Vhamusanda,” said Mukwevho.

Timpson Sithole was adamant that he had legally bought the stand from Vhamusanda Nthabalala. He said he had paid R9 000 for the stand and received an invoice. He is still waiting for his permission-to-occupy (PTO) letter. Sithole said that if they wanted him to vacate the site, the Vhamusanda must pay his money back.

Limpopo Mirror tried several times to contact Vhamusanda Vho-Khishimusi Nthabalala, but his phone just kept on ringing.