American assistance will be called upon to shed light on possible massive fraud with regard to land claims in which not only claimants but also government officials are involved.

According to Mr Piet Kemp, regional manager of the TLU SA East, farmers have always been saying that they will not oppose valid claims, but that they have serious concerns about unfair claims. Mr Kemp is currently investigating almost 2 000 suspicious claims in Mpumalanga, North West, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. Some of the claims were withdrawn after he questioned them.

American forensic experts are used to determine the age of the documents in cases of dispute. Up to now, all claims that were contested were withdrawn before such tests were done. Some of the claims in Mpumalanga are not on the original 1999 list of restitution claims for this province that were submitted prior to the cut-off date of 31 December 1998.

"I don't believe the story that boxes full of claims were discovered in store rooms after 1998. Such a degree of negligence cannot possibly take place in a matter so serious as land reform," says Kemp.

Scores of claims concerning farms not included in the list were withdrawn after he objected to it and examined the claims. In the most recent case, some 40 portions of 5 farms were investigated in a single week.

A restitution claim on behalf of the Ngwenya family for the farms Oudehoutspruit, Groenvlei and Mount Farm in the district Standerton was published in the Government Gazette on 17 June 2005. The claim was for 32 portions totalling more than 4 000 ha. Kemp queried the claim after having checked the list and visited the region with claimants and officials of the land claims commission.

"When I asked the claimants where their cattle had grazed, they indicated with a broad sweep an area roughly from Richards Bay to Cape Town. I told them to walk with me and show the exact area. In this way we were able to determine more exactly which land was being claimed. Unfortunately, project officials do not do this, and similar investigations done by attorneys cost astronomical amounts of money for farmers. It is hard work to climb over rocks and ridges for hours in the hot sun."

After 1998 the TLU SA compiled a map of land claims submitted by the cut-off date. Around 80% of agricultural land in Mpumalanga was affected. "Those parts that were unclaimed then, are now being claimed," says Kemp.

Reaction by land claims commission
In response to the queries, the office of the chief land claims commissioner said:

* With regard to allegations of fraud with claims... "The law clearly stipulated 31 December 1998 as the cut-off date for land claims. The commission will not accept claims submitted after this cut-off date."

* With regard to the practice of project officials adding unclaimed land to a claim... "Appeal has been granted against the court judgment and we can't comment on it because it is sub judice."

* With regard to claims that proper investigations do not take place before a claim is published... "The merits of a restitution claim is only investigated after the claim has been accepted. At the time of accepting the claim, the strength of the claim is not important, as long as it is possible."

* With regard to the long duration before an invalid claim is withdrawn... "The regional land claims commission first has to determine if the claimant or any aggrieved party is enforcing the rights contained in the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. A duration of two years is not the norm. If specific details of such cases are provided, they can be investigated." - Isabel Stoltz

Article courtesy of Landbouweekblad.

For more information on agricultural property matters, visit www.agritv.co.za.

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