A number of years ago the so called Elambeni Community in Kwazulu Natal lodged a land claim against the Crookes Brothers who owns 30 sugarcane farms comprising a total of 1380 hectares. Part of this is the popular tourist attraction, Crocworld.
The Elambeni Community claims that their ancestors owned the land and farmed on it and that it was expropriated from them between 1913 and 1940. The Regional Commission of Land Claims, along with the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, accepted the claim without dispute and the Crookes Brothers had to appoint a lawyer at immense cost to take the case to court.
And there, it all fell apart.
The claimants could not provide evidence that the Elambeni Community even existed before 1913. In fact, the Crookes Brothers could provide evidence that the land was under sugarcane long before 1913. The court then invited the Elambeni Community to accompany them to the land to show where they had lived, where their ancestors were buried and where their dwellings were. They could not point out a grave, and when they started indicating where they claimed to have lived, the judge quickly pointed out that the areas pointed out by them fell OUTSIDE the land they now claimed.
In short, not a single piece of evidence could be provided and not a single statement was true. The “expert” appointed at government cost to substantiate their claim, had to admit that he could not.
Judge Yasmin Meer then said: “It is disquieting that the claimants, who were legally represented and, significantly, at the State’s expense, throughout these proceedings, could have pursued and persisted with a community claim without adducing a shred of evidence to prove that they derived their possession and use of the land from common rules.”
She ruled in favour of Crookes Brothers.
What is a matter of huge concern to us at Front National is the following: This “community” lodged a land claim based on lies, fraud and deceit and it was accepted at face value by the Minister. After a costly court case, the legal expenses of the Elambeni Community will have to be picked up by the minister of rural development and land reform and the Regional Land Claims Commission – in other words, the Taxpayer.
In short, you and I are going to pay for the fantasies of a bunch of people who tried to get their hands on land legally belonging to somebody else.
Read the original article on Front Nasionaal SA
South Africa Today – South Africa News
