Kamden’s Ba-Ga Phetlhu traditional leadership and former and current communal property association (CPA) leaders told the Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy yesterday that they have not resolved their conflict over land allocated to the CPA.
 
Also present in the meeting was the Chairperson of the Northern Cape’s Portfolio Committee on Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Neo Maneng, and senior officials of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
 
Yesterday’s meeting follows a previous occasion in October 2022 when the select committee met with both structures. Yesterday’s meeting focused on challenges with land reform in communal land areas governed by traditional councils. Even though the CPA Act of 1996 placed the focus of land reform on individuals previously dispossessed of their land, this process has created challenges with traditional authorities.
 
The committee noted that the problems run deep, and no workable solution has been found. The present CPA committee, which was elected as an intervention to resolve the conflict, told the committee about its willingness to cooperate with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development until a workable solution is found.
 
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Tebogo Modise, called on the Ba-Ga Phetlhu royal family to resolve its internal fight; if they continue with it, a leadership vacuum will open up in which the community will take advantage, the Chairperson said. This, the royal family cannot afford, she continued. Meanwhile, Ms Modise welcomed the briefings the committee received from both structures and urged them to find a solution.
 
Mr Maneng thanked both structures for their reports and shared his hope that a resolution to these persistent problems will be found.
 
The committee concludes its week-long oversight visit programme today with briefings from mining forums and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy on mine-hosting and mine-affected communities. In particular, the briefings will focus on the benefits afforded to mine-affected communities arising from the implementation of the requirements stipulated in the Mining Charter that are expected of mining companies operating in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District. The committee will also visit South 32 Mine.

Issued on behalf of The Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy, Tebogo Modise