State 'waiting for us to die' so it can have our money

Beneficiaries of the R390-million Ntabethemba land claim have protested that government wants them to die so that it uses their claim money on other things.

This is after it took longer than five years for some to get their claim payout. There are 700 claimants who are still to be paid, said Eastern Cape department of rural development and land reform director operational management Zama Memela.

Ntabethemba residents were removed from 23 villages in Herschel and Sterkspruit to Thornhill between 1976 and 1977.

Their claim was lodged by the late Christopher Mgebisa in 1995 and 1998 on behalf of Myemane, Batlokoa and Amahlubi tribes respectively. The claimants are currently residing in Ntabethemba in Merino Walk, Thornhill, Mitford, Bacle’s Farm, Tendergate, Tembalethu, Rocklands, Zola, Phakamisa and Ikhwezi villages, which fall under Enoch Mgijima local municipality.

The total restitution award for the 3043 households was R390 235 193 and it was divided into three phases. The restitution award for phase one was R137 345 350 with each household receiving R128 240.

Speaking to Daily Dispatch about the claim, Nomakwasa Poni said there was a need to investigate what had happened to their money as people were last paid in 2016.

“In December 2013, people were given assurance by then-deputy minister of rural development and land reform Pamela Tshwete. People received their money since 2013 and the problem started in 2016 when the last 10 were paid.”

She said no one received payment after that and people had been told “stories” instead of being given their money.

“The department told us they will pay us in the 2018-19 financial year. When we follow that up we are told stories and that we might not get the money until next year,” Poni said.

She says many people have died waiting for their money.

Nkosana Mqungquthu, 85, says people his age have died waiting for the money. “I have given up on the department. We were forcefully removed from our homes and when we were told that we are going to be paid we thought that was the end of poverty. But things are worse now as we are still fighting to get our money,” he said.

Mqungquthu says he wants to use his money while he is still alive. “I was in the first group that was supposed to benefit however that did not happen, I have been sending my things since 2013 but I have received nothing. There more people who are in the same situation as me,” he said.

Memela said the department decided to settle the Ntabethemba claim in phases.

“Phase one was approved in 2013 an amount of R137 345 350 for 1971 originally dispossessed persons, and each household was paid R128 240. Phase 2 was settled in 2014 for 1313 (claimants),” he said.

Memela said phase 3 has not been approved yet as they are still busy with finalising the verification and vetting of the beneficiaries.

“This process is taking longer due to the fact that the dispossession occurred long time ago and most of the people that were dispossessed are now deceased. It is estimated that there will be approximately 700 households that will form part of phase 3,” Memela said.

Memela said the balance for Ntabethemba community is R12 756 985, and this demonstrates that for many people have been paid their financial compensation and “a few are still awaiting their money,” he said.

He said the reasons for the non-payment were:

Lack of proper documentation (invalid ID documents);

Non-submission of identity documents;

Minor beneficiaries who do not have identification documents;

Untraceable beneficiaries whose whereabouts are not known;

People residing in other cities and not coming back to collect their documents; and

People not opening up the bank accounts in time and other bank accounts getting closed before the money was deposited