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News - Date: 21 May 2004
MTITITI (Malamulele) – The Mtititi land claimants did not only celebrate South Africa's successful 2010 world cup bid on Saturday, but they also celebrated the restitution settlement awarded to them by the Regional Land Claims Commission.
According to the acting head of the communications and information unit of the Regional Land Claims Commission, Mr Charles Mnisi, the Mtititi land claim settlement coincided with the official opening of the Dzwerani land claim housing development settled in February 2003. He said that the claimants were removed from the farm Knobneus, Location 101, in 1968 in terms of the Bantu Authorities Act.
"The removal of the community did not come with any form of compensation and the process caused serious social disruptions, as about 420 families were suddenly left frustrated, stranded and confused from starting a new lifestyle as well as re-establishing themselves," he said. He added that before they were removed, the claimants utilised the land for residential, ploughing, grazing of livestock, and ceremonial acts.
He confirmed that the land from which the claimants had been removed is currently a residential settlement and grazing area for Chief Vusani Munyadziwa Netshimbupfe and his subjects. "It is constitutionally not feasible to return the land to the Mtititi community. For that reason, the claimants then opted for a housing development project of 430 houses. When asked what kind of houses were they going to build for the claimants, he said it will be "four-roomed partitioned houses of 51 metre-square and will be built in the area where the claimants are currently staying."
The chairperson of the Portfolio committee in Agriculture, Dr HE Matime, gave the keynote address.
On Sunday, at the Limpopo Lodge in Giyani, an emotional re-writing history for the Mphelo family was marked when the Regional Land Claims Commission returned land dispossessed from its rightful owners.
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