Development on land stops while sites are “illegally” sold

A piece of land that was allocated to the Mashamba clan many decades ago, is at the centre of a land-grab battle. A rival group is claiming that it actually belongs to them and has gone ahead and sold sites to people who want to build houses there. A court interdict was obtained earlier this year to stop these activities, but no solution seems to be in sight.

As it stands at the moment, nearly 200 prospective buyers may lose the money they had paid for sites. A company that bought land to develop a shopping centre now has to wait while the mud-slinging and ructions continue.

The rivalry is between Thovhele Vho-Ndweleni Mashamba, Hosi Thomas Mkhari and Mkhanchane Edson Baloyi. The piece of land is at Ha-Mashamba village, and the conflict mostly focuses on some 17 hectares earmarked for development.

On 11 February this year, judge AML Phatudi granted an interdict in the Limpopo Local Division of the High Court in Thohoyandou. He ruled in favour of the applicants, the Mashamba Traditional Council and Nndweleni Tshiitwa Mashamba. The respondents were, among others, the Nkhensani Traditional Council, Thomas Mkhari, Thomas Bokisi, the Bokisi Land Claim Committee and Magezi John Makhubele. The Regional Land Claims Commission in Limpopo was also attached as a respondent.

In his order, Judge Phatudi points out that a portion of the farms Middelfontein 78LT, Maschappe 82LT and Zeekoegat 79LT was allocated to the Nkhesani Tribe in 1973. Prior to this, in 1967, parts of these farms, as well sections of the farms Avondale 88LT, Bushy Park 76LT and Riversdale 75LT, were allocated to the Mashamba community.

He then interdicted the Nkhensani Traditional Council, Thomas Mkhari, Thomas Bokisi and the Bokisi Land Claim Committee from illegally demarcating land and allocating sites that belong to the Mashamba community. They may also not collect money from members of the public under the pretext that they are the lawful owners of the land.

The court interdict further prohibited the Nkhensani Traditional Council, Mkhari or the Bokisi clan from burying any of their deceased on the portion of land that belongs to the Mashamba community.

In an interview two weeks ago, the Mashamba Tribal Council said that 17 hectares of the land had been sold to a company, Jay Tops Mashamba Sub 7 (Pty) Ltd. Their plans are to build a shopping complex and offices on the land.

The two owners of the company, Swondaha Makwarela and Thomas Muluvhu, said that they were unable to start developing the land, as sites on their property were “sold” to people for as little as R3 500.

Makwarela said that they had been trying to develop the land for the past three years, after an agreement was reached with the Mashamba Council. He was very disappointed with the actions of another group to demarcate stands on the property they had acquired. “Their motives are hideous. If somebody has a property, what right do you have to decide what he does with it? This is a privately owned property,” he said.

Makwarela said that they had already completed a public-participation process, which must be done before development of the centre can start. They are now waiting for the necessary permission from the MEC for CoGHSTA.

Mr Reckson Mashamba, the spokesperson for the Mashamba Traditional Council, laid the blame for the fracas on Hosi Mkhari and Mkhanchane Edson Baloyi. He said that even after an interdict had been granted in the High Court, they had gone ahead and demarcated sites, which had been sold to unsuspecting people.

He accused Mkhari and Baloyi of not adhering to the court order. “After the order was granted, the illegal occupants of the land were busy erecting fences, and we now have a problem with the law. These people were told to stop all activities in the area, but they are busy disregarding the order,” he said.

Mkhanchane Edson Baloyi responded by saying that the land belonged to his forefathers, who were the rightful owners. He accused Thovhele Nndweleni Mashamba of illegally occupying the land.

The chairperson of the Mkhari Tribal Council, Mr Wilson Mkhari, said that they had noted with great disappointment and disgust the insensitivity shown by Thovhele Mashamba and the Mashamba Traditional Council during the funeral of Mr Oscar Mkhari on 27 May 2021. He alleged that they had only become aware of the court interdict obtained at that time.

“We place it on record that the matter was heard in the Thohoyandou High Court without the knowledge of both the Mkhari Royal Family and the Khensani Traditional Council. Should the High Court have had an opportunity to listen to our side of the story and the evidence in our possession, we are certain that the court would not have granted the order. However, we have instructed our attorneys to launch a rescission application on the matter,” he said.

Mkhari said that they were a law-abiding family, but that any disturbances on their ancestral land would be resisted. He accused the Mashamba Tribal Authority of being an “apartheid creation”, alleging that this authority had only come into existence in or around 1967, while the Mkhari dynasty had been in existence for more than three centuries. “For the record, the area known as Mashamba village is an area which belongs to the Mkharis since time immemorial before the apartheid government took it away from us and gave it to the Mashambas,” he said.

Mkhari said that Mashamba was a Tsonga name and not Venda. “We are looking at various other options to regain control of our stolen land in order to restore peace and stability where people will live together in harmony without any disturbances from people who are so obsessed with power,” he said.

Date:08 August 2021

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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