Failure of the Amathole district municipality (ADM) to spend Keiskammahoek land claimants’ millions yesterday sparked an emotional march on the ADM’s municipal offices in East London.
More than 400 young and old residents from nine villages who arrived in 25 taxis, chanted and brought traffic to a standstill as they marched down Union Avenue.
At the ADM offices the crowd chanted “Sizoxola kanjani imali yethu yaphelela eAmathole” (How can we be peaceful when Amathole has all our money) and then handed over demands for answers on how R55-million awarded to them in a land restitution settlement in 2002 had been spent.
A total of R110-million was awarded to the communities, with a written agreement stating that half of the money would be paid out to families as compensation after they had been dispossessed of their land in the early 1990s.
The other R55-million half of the payout would fund development projects in their communities. The money was given to ADM as the implementing agent. ADM mayor Nomfusi Nxawe, who thanked the crowd for coming forward with their grievances, received the memorandum calling for a clear breakdown of how much of the R55-million had been spent.
The memorandum called for the transfer the remaining funds from ADM to an organisation of the community’s choice.
Nxawe said she would involve all relevant departments in solving the plight of the villagers, and provide feedback within the next 14 days.
In a release, Border Rural Committee (BRC) managing director Phumeza Grootboom, said ADM claimed to have spent R35-million on projects in the villages – but the community members wanted a detailed account of how the money was spent.
Grootboom said they had waited for a decade and still the planned projects had not been implemented, and unemployment and poverty were rife.
She accused ADM of failing to complete multi-purpose halls in some of the villages.
Two tractors bought in 2014 for farming were not being used because they were not yet registered by ADM.
In 2015, fencing was brought to some of the villages but had not been fully erected because ADM had not paid workers.
Grootboom told the crowd: “We are here today because we want ADM to account for where our money is. We’ve been trying to find answers for many years. We have had enough. That money was meant to improve and transform the lives of the people in Keiskammahoek, and we will explore any avenue necessary to achieve this.”
Gasa Ndingane, chairman of the project steering committee set up to co-facilitate project implementation, said it was unfortunate they had to take such steps to be heard.
“After all the attempts we’ve made to get responses, this was our final resort. Even the money we spent to come here could have gone into improving our communities.
“What baffles us is that it is our money that ADM is withholding.
“When we ask for reports of what’s being done with the funds, we are ignored and treated with utter disrespect. This money is not for us individuals, but it is to make our communities beautiful.”
Grootboom said: “It is a shame that it’s taken so many years to be heard. It’s disappointing that the ANC-led government has tampered with our democracy and continues to fail to deliver to the people.
“We want it to be known today that we have lost faith in ADM to administer these funds.” — nonsindisoq@dispatch.co.za