land invasions – praag.org

Land invasions: Mayor meets illegal occupants

Mangaung Executive Mayor, Thabo Manyoni on Tuesday met with representatives of the community of Botshabelo regarding illegal land occupation and invasion.

A portion of Botshabelo section H was not properly allocated to residents. Manyoni said the land invasion was against procedures of the city and needed to be rectified urgently.

He added that he will not allow people to stay or occupy any piece of land that is not serviced and does not conform with the basic requirements for living standards. He says the issue of land is a serious matter that needs to be treated carefully hence the municipality will not allow any lawlessness around it.

At the same time he urged members of the community not to be coerced into occupying land that is not approved but rather to work closely with the city to address the sensitive matter of land.

Farmers in Sasolburg are meanwhile meeting with Free State MEC for Police, Roads and Transport Butana Khompela and the provincial police commisioner, Simon Mpembe in Sasolburg.

The meeting will revolve around rural safety and illegal land occupations. The meeting will take place at 11:00 at the municipal offices in Fichardt street, in the Council Foyer on the second floor.

Source: OFM

Zim’s white farmers face new land grabs

Most of Zimbabwe’s white farmers were stripped of their land in often violent evictions that started in 2000. Now the remaining white farmers are on edge because of threats of new evictions linked to the country’s long-running political turmoil.

Mandi Chimene, a newly appointed provincial governor for Manicaland province, said at a rally this past weekend that she had evicted white farmers from 12 farms in the Headlands district alone, claiming they were being protected by the former vice president’s faction. Joice Mujuru was ousted from the ruling party congress in December after falling out of favor with the president and his wife.

Another newly appointed governor, Joe Biggie Matiza of Mashonaland East province, said he will take similar action by the end of this month.

However, human rights advocate and political analyst Gabriel Shumba said that linking the evictions to the Mujuru faction “is just political expediency by those seeking to evict them.” Shumba said, “White farmers are caught up because they are in possession of an asset that is in demand.”

The Commercial Farmers Union, which represents mostly white farmers in Zimbabwe, has sought a meeting with the lands minister over the evictions, said spokesman Hendricks Olivier. “The eviction of both black and white farmers is not good for the sector,” Olivier told The Associated Press. “We need a clear policy.”

Douglas Mombeshora, the lands minister, recently said black farmers can enter into joint venture with partners of other races. But vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa later delivered a conflicting message, warning of more evictions of white farmers. President Robert Mugabe has often spoken against joint farming partnerships between blacks and whites.

There are fewer than 300 white farmers out of the original total of 4,500, according to the Commercial Farmers Union. The land eviction program that targeted white farmers starting in 2000 was defended by Mugabe as necessary to correct land imbalances dating from the era of white rule, though the upheaval was blamed for mismanagement of Zimbabwe’s once rich agricultural economy.

Source: AP

Land invasions at Bekkersdal

Black residents from Bekkersdal on the West Rand have invaded nearby land owned by mining companies.

The residents have accused the Westonaria local municipality of corruption in the Bekkersdal urban renewal project.

The land invasions began at the weekend after negotiations between the community and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs hit a wall. By yesterday morning, more than 500 residents had put their names on a list one of them had begun to compile, and had laid claim to stands in an open stretch of land adjacent to the township.

Some of the residents stayed away from work to take advantage of “the opportunity of a lifetime”.

“I am taking my stand. I do not know whether this is going to work out or not. If it does, I don’t want to be left behind,” said one resident.

Community spokesman Thabang Wesi said the community are reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

“This is our land.”

Gauteng department of human settlements spokesman Motsamai Motlhaolwa said the land was privately owned.

“The owner of the land has the responsibility to go to court to get an order evicting the people from his land,” he said.

Gold One spokesman Grant Stuart said one of the three properties being invaded belonged to the company but was being transferred to another owner. The two other properties belong to Rand Uranium.

Source: timeslive