Land claim derails new mall

land claim derails new mall

240 developed mthatha plots 'belong to village'

a village chief is claiming more than 240 plots of land scattered all over mthatha, some in the city centre.

they could be worth millions of rands.

totalling 500 hectares, the plots include the land on which is built:

* the holiday inn;

* a part of walter sisulu university;

* the mthatha dam;

* wellington prison, nkululekweni and the shell ultra city;

* a section of fort gale, the oldest suburb in mthatha; and

* even a part of the mthatha airport.

nkosi ngubesizwe njemla, acting on behalf of kwalindile community, submitted the claim to the eastern cape land claims commission in september 1998.


njemla first made headlines when he went to the mthatha high court in a bid to put a stop to a giant shopping mall being developed in nkululekweni. his court bid has now brought the mall development, which was due to open next year, to a complete standstill.


njemla and his people are part of a community forcefully removed from their land in 1953 by the then-government to make way for a forest, now known as langeni forest.

they were dumped on farms near mthatha where they settled and built homes. it is in these farms, now known as the trust farms, that areas such as mthatha airport, wellington prison, mthatha dam, the holiday inn, nkululekweni and fort gale are situated.


when contacted by the dispatch yesterday, njemla declined to comment saying the matter was still 'sub judice'.

linda faleni, eastern cape land claims commissioner, confirmed that the commission was considering the claim. but it's not the biggest single land claim in the eastern cape, he said. that record is held by the mkhambathi community in lusikisiki that involves 17000ha. after the matter was resolved that land was eventually given back to the community.


speaking on behalf of the king sabata dalindyebo municipality, which claims ownership of most of the disputed land, council speaker mlibo qoboshiyana said they were aware of the claim and were worried as it is taking too long to resolve. it was derailing development in mthatha, he said.

"we have adopted a position to engage and negotiate with the claimants, with the hope that the land claims commission will move quickly to deal with these claims."

part of the problem was that the claims were not lodged with the municipality but with an independent body.

"but what worries us most is the delay in the finalisation of these land claims which results in developmental problems," qoboshiyana said.

"once there is a claim at wellington prison, nkululekweni and mthatha as a town, it causes serious problems for us as the municipality to move forward with the advertising of land for developmental purposes."

mthatha airport manager anderson maduneni was shocked to hear that this claim was still being considered.

"as far as i know, this matter had been dealt with and resolved by the land claims commissioner in 2003," said maduneni

qoboshiyana asked: "what do the people who are claiming that land stand to benefit?"