Complaining land owners shut-down Loskop Reserve operations
Loskop
A group of disgruntled title deeds holders, joined by community members, have on Monday 24 October; shut-down all operations at Loskop Nature Reserve outside Groblersdal.
The concerned group say they are complaining because since their land claims were approved in 2004, the nature reserve management has been excluding them in any decision making and job opportunities are given to outsiders on their own land.
The title deeds holders accuse the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) for delaying to allocate the families their land since the land claim was approved.
The affected families who were declared by the department as rightful owners of the Loskop Nature Reserve land are from Ntwane in Moutse and Tafelkop Villages.
Loskop Nature Reserve was since established in 1961 and currently falling under the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency in the Department of Economic Development, which signed a memorandum of understanding with DALRRD in Limpopo to handle the nature reserve’s land claim issues, as the affected families fall under the province.
Tsie Phora, a title deed holder, said the problem started when some of the people they have nominated to handle the land claim issue started to side with officials from the DALRRD and the nature reserve management for kick-backs.
“The committee we have elected since 2008 failed all these years to report back to the land owners and we have learned that they are benefiting through tenders and jobs in the nature reserve,” he said.
Tsie said since the title deeds were issued, no correspondence was made by the nature reserve management to land owners, through any developments and other opportunities executed within the Loskop Nature Reserve.
“The majority of us title deed holders are unemployed while we have many hectares of land generating profit every day. We have decided to stop all operations because we are overlooked when there are job opportunities in the nature reserve. The worst part is that the nature reserve management hires undocumented foreign nationals instead of prioritizing rightful owners of the land,” he said.
Furthermore, Phora said title deed owners demand that the current land claimants’ families replaces board of trustees, meaning all affected families be recognized as board of trustees and title deeds be used as references.
“We demand the land owners be granted ownership of all immovable assets including infrastructure and fixed assets. Title deeds holders be entitled to 100 % net profit made by the game reserve after deducting management cost and a levy of tourism to visitors be introduced, visitors be charged for the benefits of title deeds holder,” he said.
Phora indicated that title deeds holders also demand to be fully entitled to use biological resources without limitations.
“Our other demands include that land owners and neighbouring villages of Moutse should have exclusive opportunities in a proportion of 60:40 percent, both unskilled and skilled title deeds holders and be given first preferences in the nature reserve vacancies,” he said.
Phora said they will not allow services to continue in the nature reserve until they get assurance that all their demands will be met and title deeds holders will start benefiting from their own land.
The Limpopo DALRRD was not available for a comment at the time of going to press.
