A group of villagers near the Wild Coast in the former Transkei region whose homesteads face being demolished, have vowed to die inside their houses rather than allow them to be destroyed.
Their homes, in Lubanzi village near Coffee Bay, are said to have been built illegally as they are situated too close to the coastline and now government plans to tear them down.
This decision follows a pronouncement by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi earlier this year in his budget speech where he revealed that the state had recovered about 15 properties since it launched its Operation Bring Back last year.
Most reportedly involved coastal resorts, cottages and chalets built on land owned by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
The Daily Dispatch, however, reported in April that at least 14 homesteads in Lubanzi, built inside the coastal conservation area, also face removal.
The majority of them are mud structures and sit on a hilltop within a kilometre of the coastline.
Last year in Lubanzi about four cottages that were deemed to have been illegally built were destroyed by the Green Scorpions.
Villagers told the Dispatch that their houses had been on that land for centuries. They said they would rather be shot by the Green Scorpions and die inside their homes than watch them being demolished.
One of those is elderly Nontambo Nonkwenkwana who stays in several mud huts with his wife and children.
The frail old man, who did not know his age but estimated it to be about 80, has little use of his left leg and gets around with the use of a walking stick. He has never received any formal education. Some of his children’s houses nearby are also among those facing being torn down by government.
However, although he cannot recall the date or year of his birth, he said he had been born on the land where his home stands today.
“They might as well burn me inside because I am not going anywhere. My grandfathers were born here. It’s our land,” he said.
His neighbour Nqabisile Ntsikelelo Mantangeni argued that they had not had the legal reason behind the decision to demolish their houses explained to them.
“They are just trying to take our rights away. Our forefathers and grandfathers died here and were buried here. If they want they can just shoot me. Is it because we are illiterate and uneducated that they are victimising us,” he asked.
Nohotele Diba, who is also about 80 years old, said as far as they knew, the land belonged to their chief and the community of Lubanzi, not the government.
“Why should we negotiate the right to settle on our own land? Personally, I am not going anywhere,” she said.
Public works provincial spokesman Mphumzi Zuzile insisted that the state, and in particular the department of environmental affairs, had done everything and followed the law to the letter. “People are free to seek legal help if they want but the department will continue with the evictions on protected land.”
The Dispatch is in possession of a copy of a recent notice given to one of the villagers, Mongezi Ndawo.
According to this notice, Ndawo’s two mud rondavels were in contravention of the Environmental Management; Integrated Coastal Management Act of 2008 and had been erected after 1992 without a permit in terms of the Environmental Conservation Decree 9 of 1992 (of the then-Transkei government). It also states that a similar notice had been sent to Ndawo, which he had refused to sign in 2012.
Apparently, a gravel road which cuts through the village is being used to determine which houses are encroaching on the coastline. But residents like Ndawo and Nonkwenkwana claimed this was puzzling because the road had only been built around 1999 at the request of the villagers themselves.
Rahel Lawrence, who runs the Wild Lubanzi Backpackers, which is also set to be demolished by government, said although they would willingly demolish their place, it was shocking that government had waited more than 22 years to enforce the 1992 Transkei law.
— sikhon@dispatch.co.za
‘Shoot us rather than evict us’
Their homes, in Lubanzi village near Coffee Bay, are said to have been built illegally as they are situated too close to the coastline and now government plans to tear them down.
This decision follows a pronouncement by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi earlier this year in his budget speech where he revealed that the state had recovered about 15 properties since it launched its Operation Bring Back last year.
Most reportedly involved coastal resorts, cottages and chalets built on land owned by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
The Daily Dispatch, however, reported in April that at least 14 homesteads in Lubanzi, built inside the coastal conservation area, also face removal.
The majority of them are mud structures and sit on a hilltop within a kilometre of the coastline.
Last year in Lubanzi about four cottages that were deemed to have been illegally built were destroyed by the Green Scorpions.
Villagers told the Dispatch that their houses had been on that land for centuries. They said they would rather be shot by the Green Scorpions and die inside their homes than watch them being demolished.
One of those is elderly Nontambo Nonkwenkwana who stays in several mud huts with his wife and children.
The frail old man, who did not know his age but estimated it to be about 80, has little use of his left leg and gets around with the use of a walking stick. He has never received any formal education. Some of his children’s houses nearby are also among those facing being torn down by government.
However, although he cannot recall the date or year of his birth, he said he had been born on the land where his home stands today.
“They might as well burn me inside because I am not going anywhere. My grandfathers were born here. It’s our land,” he said.
His neighbour Nqabisile Ntsikelelo Mantangeni argued that they had not had the legal reason behind the decision to demolish their houses explained to them.
“They are just trying to take our rights away. Our forefathers and grandfathers died here and were buried here. If they want they can just shoot me. Is it because we are illiterate and uneducated that they are victimising us,” he asked.
Nohotele Diba, who is also about 80 years old, said as far as they knew, the land belonged to their chief and the community of Lubanzi, not the government.
“Why should we negotiate the right to settle on our own land? Personally, I am not going anywhere,” she said.
Public works provincial spokesman Mphumzi Zuzile insisted that the state, and in particular the department of environmental affairs, had done everything and followed the law to the letter. “People are free to seek legal help if they want but the department will continue with the evictions on protected land.”
The Dispatch is in possession of a copy of a recent notice given to one of the villagers, Mongezi Ndawo.
According to this notice, Ndawo’s two mud rondavels were in contravention of the Environmental Management; Integrated Coastal Management Act of 2008 and had been erected after 1992 without a permit in terms of the Environmental Conservation Decree 9 of 1992 (of the then-Transkei government). It also states that a similar notice had been sent to Ndawo, which he had refused to sign in 2012.
Apparently, a gravel road which cuts through the village is being used to determine which houses are encroaching on the coastline. But residents like Ndawo and Nonkwenkwana claimed this was puzzling because the road had only been built around 1999 at the request of the villagers themselves.
Rahel Lawrence, who runs the Wild Lubanzi Backpackers, which is also set to be demolished by government, said although they would willingly demolish their place, it was shocking that government had waited more than 22 years to enforce the 1992 Transkei law.
— sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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