AbaThembu King wants Mthatha land

AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo wants to claim the whole of Mthatha for his tribe and has lodged a claim to this effect. Image: Blue Mercury

Dalindyebo has approached the Land Claims Commission to claim the city and surrounding areas and according to his spokesman Chief Mfundo Mtirara he lodged the claim on behalf of the AbaThembu nation.

"This is the first step," said Mtirara, implying more claims would be lodged. "The king is starting with Mthatha and the farms around Mthatha. The land on which Mthatha is built belongs to the AbaThembu Kingdom," he claimed.

Mtirara said the king was not fazed by the fact the land was subject to another claim by the Zimbane Development Trust.

"We are aware there is another claim, but those are our people so it is fine," he said.

But Zimbane Development Trust chairman Onke Bulo said the king was wasting his time. "The land he is claiming belongs to us and we are willing to go to court to defend our ownership of it.

AbaThembu King has tried to lodge claims before

Mthatha is now the source of two land claims, one from the AbaThembu tribe and the other from Zimbane Development Trust. Neither claim, according to the courts is likely to succeed although some compensation may be paid. Image: The South African

"This is not the first time the king is doing something like this. He tried to change Fortgale, the suburb, into Lower Ngqule and he even deployed a chief there, but we fought that in court," Bulo said.

Thobelani Tshalana, the project coordinator in the provincial office of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform confirmed it had received the king's claim.

"The claim was lodged on last week and though he [Dalindyebo] said it was farms, I understand the land has since been developed into townships and locations," said Tshalana.

He said claimants needed to make it clear if they were acting on behalf of themselves or others.

"A person making a claim must have all the necessary documents and we do research on the claim to check its legitimacy. If the claim does not meet our criteria then we dismiss it. If the standards are met, then we verify and make evaluations on the land," Tshalana said.

In 2012 the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that no land claim for Mthatha would see the land restored to the owners, but instead ordered that successful claimants may be compensated or given alternative land.

Last month President Jacob Zuma reopened the re-lodgment of land claims for those who missed the 31 December 1998 deadline. The process will now run for five more years starting from 30 June this year.

Source: Herald via I-Net Bridge