Potential for conflict over land

The pending settlement of a land dispute case in northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) could become an example for the rest of South Africa, which, like its neighbour Zimbabwe, is faced with a need to conduct land reform. Unlike its northern neighbour, South Africa's land reform programme has not been marked by violence and disrespect for the rule of law. However, a number of land invasions have occurred over the past few years outside of the government's programme. In the tiny rural area of Nonoti, about 100-km north of the coastal city of Durban, a land dispute case is being finalised that could have implications for land reform in South Africa. In the late 1980's Nonoti consisted mainly of a number of small-scale sugarcane farmers, many of whose families had been living on and working their land since the 19th century. However, since 1989 many of them have fled their homes and abandoned their farm land due to land invasions. But the seemingly intractable dispute over land rights may yet be solved through negotiations between land owners, illegal occupiers and the government. With KZN being a former hotbed of political violence - mostly before, during and the years immediately after South Africa's first democratic election in 1994 - the potential for further violence over land was worrying, said Mary de Haas of the Natal Violence Monitor. A Monitor report on patterns of violence in KZN, covering the period May to September 2002, noted that: "Orchestrated land invasions have been occurring in a number of areas of this province for several years. The threat of further invasions loomed large in Kranskop [a rural area of the province] following the killing of an alleged poacher in August ... "Following this incident, members of the amaNgcolosi Tribal Authority, which borders on commercial farming land and a conservancy area in which the shooting occurred, alleged various abuses by farmers (including the confiscation of livestock), called for the removal of whites and 'whoever came with sugarcane' (an apparent allusion to Indian farmers in the area)." The report said other farmers targeted for attack during the period included farmers of Indian heritage in the Verulam/Hazelmere area, "where attacks have reportedly increased dramatically this year ... a number have fled their farms in fear of their lives". BACKGROUND TO DISPUTE A representative of the small-scale farmers affected by land invasions, Naren Harikrishna, vice chair of the Darnall Farmers Association, outlined the background to the dispute. Although Harikrishna was not affected by land invasions, his association decided to assist the Nonoti farmers when it became clear a solution needed to be negotiated. "It [land invasions] began in about 1989. There was a black [African] family living on their own property and one of them decided he was going to sell plots to outsiders for a few Rands, that is how it started," Harikrishna said. As more and more people came to the area to settle, there was greater demand for land. "Sugarcane is easily destroyed by fire and they started burning the cane off the land and started building houses on farmers' land. It spread, from one farm to the other. These were poor, small farmers. Not guys who could afford security and legal costs to get squatters evicted. The affected farmers eventually, in about 1990, got together and formed a committee and they got a court order to evict the illegal occupants on their land. "But the order was not carried out [by authorities]. In one section the army did evict illegal occupants but two weeks later they [squatters] were back and were setting up shacks again," Harikrishna added. There were at least two incidents in which farmers homes were razed by arsonists. Violence and threats forced many to flee and give up their homes and land. About 20 small-scale farmers were left with nothing. THE DISPLACED De Haas said land invasions had "been going on for over 10 years, they have been targeting small-scale sugar farmers ... hoping nobody would notice". She said political violence was a major factor driving invasions. "It's linked to violence in other areas, [violence] has forced people to flee," she said. In Nonoti the displaced have become the displacers. Harikrishna told IRIN that many of the people who had illegally occupied farmers' land were themselves forced to flee their home areas. "People have come from everywhere, from the Transkei, Zululand, Durban, all over the place. A lot of people were displaced because of political violence in KwaZulu-Natal. Violence in their home areas forced them to move, they were looking for a safe haven. Also, many have never owned land in all their lives, so they see there's an opportunity to own land and they move in," he said. Their occupation of land has in turn forced others to flee. "The affected farmers have moved into cities and into other spheres of industry as their land cannot sustain them any longer. Many depend on relatives and friends. They were small farmers, each had between 10 and 20 hectares of land. Homes have been burnt down, crops were destroyed during the illegal occupations. The farmers had to abandon their land," Harikrishna noted. NO FACILITIES The people illegally occupying farm land have virtually no facilities. But the local municipality cannot provide infrastructure services without the permission of the land-owners, which was not forthcoming. "The council can only put in infrastructure with the land-owners permission, but how can the land-owners give consent for illegal occupation of their land?" said Harikrishna. "The squatters on the land have no infrastructure, no water provision, no electricity, no roads, no plumbing, no refuse removal - no facilities at all. "In all, about 600 hectares of crop land has been occupied illegally and there are about three treadle pumps to serve about 1,000 households averaging five people per home, that's about 5,000 people. In the mornings you see a long line of people queuing for water," he added. MOVING TOWARD A SETTLEMENT About six months ago the affected farmers began negotiating with the department of land affairs. "We have now got to the point where the affected farmers have decided to sell the land to the department, so they will get compensation, and the land will be given to the municipality so that they can go and put in infrastructure. "All the necessary documentation, title deeds etc., have been given to the department of land affairs. The department will appoint an evaluator to value the properties and we are hoping that by the end of March [2003] this whole [thing] will be sorted out. Payments would be made and the land would be given to the municipality," Harikrishna said. Khathe Nzimande, chief planner for the regional programme in the provincial department of land affairs, told IRIN that it seemed a resolution was near. "Previously we had a problem in that owners did not want to sign agreements and a lot of occupiers coming onto the land. Up until the intervention of the Darnall Farmers Association that is, now there seems to be a resolution. Most of the land owners have submitted their land availability agreements ... evaluation money has been approved and we'll be meeting with the community [occupying the land] very soon to discuss the transfer of the land to the municipality," he said. It appeared that there were reservations within the community occupying the land over the transfer of the land to the municipality and not to them. "In most cases we only transfer land to the municipality once the municipality has indicated there will be housing development [on the property], but in this case they have not [indicated such]. But they have assured us that once there's a final settlement they will plan for development. At this meeting we will talk to the people [about the municipalities' plans]," Nzimande explained. There has also been an official land claim lodged, but the regional land claims commission has given the department the go-ahead to proceed with its settlement. Should the official land claim succeed, there may have to be a renegotiation, Nzimande said. Either way, the department hoped the issue would be sorted out before the end of the financial year. A SUCCESS STORY? "We hope that this will be a success story, where the problems are solved, to a large extent, by the communities themselves. What we did was we formed two committees. A committee of affected landowners and a committee headed by a local councillor with representatives of the people living on the land. "We sat down and talked, and now there's a solution in sight," said Harikrishna.