The government has offered to pay R1 billion to settle a land claim against the MalaMala game reserve in Mpumulanga, the Sunday Times reported.
“R1 billion for a single land claim is a lot of money,” chief land claims commissioner Nomfundo Gobodo told the newspaper.
The claimants, the Mhlanganisweni, are about 15,000 people in several villages about 5km from the Kruger National Park. The community believes R460 million is a fair price. They or their families were forcibly removed from the land during apartheid. The owner, Michael Rattray, however wanted R936m, and another R70m for improvements.
Last year, R1.6 billion was used to settle 549 claims across the country.
“I agree that paying market value is not sustainable. We have to look at what is just and equitable,” said Gobodo.
Rattray’s lawyer Patrick Falconer told the paper that “the owners and the minister (of land reform Gugile Nkwinti) are indeed in the same ballpark on the value of the land and improvements”. He declined to specify an amount. – Sapa