No Man’s Land: Informal Land Rights Holders and Traditional Authorities
In March 2018, Nomakhwezi Mthizana-Base was informed by the head woman in her local area of Bhongweni, Phase 1, Mthatha that she must vacate the home she has been living in since 1992.
She was told that the land she lives on belongs to the Chieftaincy and that it had been sold to a commercial developer to build flats for students of the Walter Sisulu University.
She was not alone.
For a number of years, the head woman and her council had been taking the plots of vulnerable residents, demolishing their homes, and selling the land to developers without any compensation to the residents.
Ms Base’s home is located on Erf 912 which belongs to the King Sabata-Dalindyebo Local Municipality and comprises a large part of Mthatha. The land was never subdivided which means that residents have no title deeds, but have lived on the communal land since before 1994. To complicate matters further, Erf 912 is the subject of a competing land claim by both the Zimbane Community and the Kwalindile Community which has not been concluded more than twenty years after it was lodged.
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