Commoners take on royals in land row

A land dispute in a platinum-rich area is coming to a head over 61 farms that villagers are determined to keep out of the clutches of a wealthy traditional authority, arguing that it is private land bought by their forefathers.

March Motene, whose village of Chaneng hosts the sprawling Styldrift mine owned by Royal Bafokeng Platinum, is confident that her community will win its court case over land ownership against the Royal Bafokeng Nation traditional body.

"It has been a while that we have been waiting for the truth to come out. We are certainly ready to provide evidence that the land in question belongs to individual communities and families. Our forefathers bought this land by going to toil in the diamond fields in Kimberley," she said.

In 2008, the Royal Bafokeng Nation applied to the High Court in Mahikeng to have 61 mineral farms held in a trust on behalf of the Bafokeng communities registered under its name . It cited the minister of land affairs and rural development and the registrar of deeds as respondents.

The minister's response was to request that the Royal Bafokeng Nation consult interested parties - which is when the community opposed the monarchy's plans in court.

The case to be heard in just over a week at Mogwase Magistrate's Court will focus on whether the Royal Bafokeng Nation Supreme Council took a decision to authorise the application in the first place, as well as whether the council - the highest decision-making body in the nation - has the power under customary law to take such a decision and, if so, whether it has to consult broadly within the community before taking such a decision.

block_quotes_start We are ready to give oral evidence and documented evidence. We are poor but were blessed with a land of abundance block_quotes_end

Also to be argued is why, after a 2006 kgotha kgothe or meeting of the community in which it loudly opposed the Royal Bafokeng Nation's plan to secure the land, the monarchy proceeded with the court application.

Villager Motene is a member of the Bafokeng Land Buyers' Association, a community organisation started by the mineral-rich villages in the area. The association and a number of families and community members dispute that the Royal Bafokeng Nation has any authority to litigate on their behalf. The dispute has degenerated into a public spat between the two parties.

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The Royal Bafokeng Nation, a traditional authority that covers 1000km² in North West, owns 56.6% of JSE-listed Royal Bafokeng Platinum, which has a market capitalisation of R5.15-billion.

Thusi Rapoo, secretary of the Bafokeng Land Buyers' Association, said: "If there are any benefits to the land being under the Royal Bafokeng Nation, they are highly outweighed by the damages the RBN has caused to the community."

Rapoo said the community wanted the land to be under its rightful owners so that they could create their own governing body to see to the best interests of the entire community and not just certain individuals.

"We want to administer our own land, go back to farming, participate in mining and change destructive operations," he said.

Members of the community say their forefathers bought the land in 1870 through a syndicate of 29 people, including its then-leader, Rampete Petlele.

The community was prevented from getting the title deeds because of racially discriminatory laws. The title deed was taken over by a German missionary, Christoph Penzhorn, who died in 1895. Without consulting the communities, Penzhorn's executor transferred the properties to the minister of native affairs. After 1994, it was taken over by the minister of land affairs.

Royal Bafokeng Nation spokesman Bashi Makgale said the authority did consult the community. He said the application for the 61 farms was made in the interest of the entire Bafokeng people and in order to break away from the colonial and apartheid legacy of having Bafokeng communal land under the custodianship of the minister. The title deed for the land in dispute is currently held by minister of rural development and land affairs.

But Rapoo said the community was not consulted.

Countered Makgale: "We wanted the Bafokeng land registered directly under its name. The Bafokeng do not believe that a value can be placed on the land. It is part of their cultural heritage and was purchased by them from as early as 1886."

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Makgale lambasted the Bafokeng Land Buyers' Association for putting its interests before those of the entire Bafokeng people.

The association, assisted by pro bono lawyers from the Legal Resources Centre, and 16 respondents are arguing that the land is their private property bought by their forefathers, and that the traditional body has no authority over the land.

Motene, wearing a T-shirt that is anti Bafokeng and President Jacob Zuma's government, recalled the 2006 kgotha kgothe at which the taking of the land was mooted. The meeting, she said, was rowdy with disapproval.

"This should tell you the feeling of the entire community. It should also tell you why we are prepared to fight to the last minute. Most of the community elders who physically bought the land have passed on." But Motene said the community knows the historical facts, which were passed on from generation to generation. "So we are ready to give oral evidence and some of us have documented evidence. We are poor but were blessed with a land of abundance," she said.

Makgale said the wealth in the land had been used for bursaries, schools, clinics, roads and other infrastructure in the area.

"All infrastructure, like water reticulation and electricity, were provided by Bafokeng. While a lot has been achieved, the RBN believes that there is still more work to be done to further develop the community and the outlook of the future generations," he said.

biyasel@sundaytimes.co.za, mtonganal@sundaytimes.co.za