By Kopano Dibakwane
The minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development, Thoko Didiza, officially handed over a title deed to beneficiaries who collectively form part of the Batlhabine CPA(Communal Property Associations) in an event held at Tubbshill farm, Letsitele Tzaneen in Limpopo, on 15 April.
The list of dignitaries included Kgoshi Mogoboya from the Batlhabine ba Mogoboya tribal authority, representatives from the office of the MEC of agriculture, land reform and rural development in Limpopo and officials from the Greater Tzaneen local municipality.
The claim was reportedly lodged by Kgoshi Sakiya Mogoboya on behalf of the community in 1998.
In her keynote address, Didiza said that the people of Batlhabine have an opportunity to turn their fortunes around, by adequately using the newly acquired land for economic sustainability.
” You must be able to have the skills and expertise to manage these farms. Its important to have investors , but it’s also important that amongst you as a community there are people who will have an interest, the knowhow and knowledge to run such enterprises. We must stop just being employees and be land owners so that things can change,” said Didiza.
The chief land claims commisioner, Nomfundo Ntloko, said that the transfer was signed on 15 February this year to formally allocate 216 hectares of land from portion 3 of Tamara farms which was purchased for R3,200,000 to the full control and ownership of the CPA. According to Ntloko, the land in which the hectares were extracted is primarily used for forestry in the Mopani district, under the Greater Tzaneen local municipality.
” As the commission, we are happy that you’ve received the land and we believe that you will use it well. You must remind the people who are on the CPA committee that they are working for you. They must report and ensure that the gogo Dlaminis also benefit from the land,” said Ntloko.
Eric Lepelle, CPA chairperson, said that the road towards acquiring the title deed was not easy. He urged the community to refrain from engaging in disputes, in order to attract investors to assist in developing the land for farming.
A representative from Tamara farms, a subsidiary of Hans Merensky Holdings, Johan De Graaf, said that his company comes in as a commercial partner of the CPA. According to De Graaf, the aim of the partnership with beneficiaries is to transcend sustainability and work towards restorative economics. He added that bursaries and mentorship programmes will form part of the commercial partnership.
Didiza urged the beneficiaries to work closely with the Mogoboya tribal authority. Her keynote address also encouraged the young people of Batlhabine community to pursue careers in agriculture in order to guarantee continuity in running the farms. She also spoke frankly to government officials present at the event by highlighting corruption as a major setback towards the development of many impoverished communities in the country.
” The roads need to be fixed, municipal infrastructure grant must work for this community. I hope that going forward we will do what is right and serve the community. We must always remember that the power we are given to lead is not of us, it’s these communities that have trusted us with that power. It’s time that we respect ourselves as civil servant,” said Didiza.
