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5 yrs needed for land claims
23/07/2008 21:19 - (SA)
Pretoria - About five more years are needed to conclude all land claim cases, acting Land Claims Commissioner chief Blessing Mphela said on Wednesday.
This was assuming that certain things such as traditional authority disputes had been resolved, Mphela told reporters in Pretoria.
While land restitution was supposed to have been concluded in 2008 there were still about 5 000 claims outstanding.
"We are estimating that it will take about five years ending in 2012 from this year," he said. The current 2008 deadline was extended from 2005.
He said that the government had been informed about this in a note sent to Cabinet.
Mphela added that as of June 30, 2008, the commission had settled a total of 74 808 claims out of a more than 79 000 lodged by the December 31, 1998 cut-off date.
Almost 5 000 claims, mostly in rural areas, were still outstanding.
Outstanding claims
"The outstanding claims are difficult to settle due to a number of challenges that include exorbitant land prices, disputes over validity of some claims as well as cases referred to the Land Claims Court," he said.
Touching on the Matsafeni community in Mpumalanga, Mphelo said the commission had held a meeting with residents regarding the construction of the 2010 World Cup stadium on land belonging to the community.
"The outcome is that there is general understanding that the construction of the stadium... is in the public interest."
The land on which the stadium was being constructed was now valued at R62m.
"The community will enter into a 50-50 partnership regarding the control and management of the stadium. This means that the community will receive a portion of the proceeds from the business operations taking place in the stadium precinct," he said.
He said 118 hectares of about 5 700 hectares of land given back to residents would be used for the construction and development of a residential area by the Mbombela municipality.
- SAPA
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