Bakwena ba Mare a Phogole (Klipgat) community restitution claim

Abstract

This diagnostic study examines the case of the restoration of the remaining extent of the farm Klipgat 18 IQ, falling under the Ventersdorp Local Municipality in the North West province, to the Bakwena ba Mare Phogole community in July 2000. The restored land of the Klipgat farm is approximately 873 ha in extent. This report outlines the community’s attempts to develop and use the land that has been restored to it in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994 (‘Restitution Act’). It examines the nature and content of the post-settlement support received and draws lessons from the community’s experience that might inform the development of a strategy for post-settlement support provision by land reform institutions and associated agencies. At the outset, the report describes the location and physical features of the restored land, the history of ownership and dispossession, and the changes in land use that took place in the post-dispossession period. The process of the claim lodgement, verification, negotiations and settlement are then traced. The developments and support provided during the post-settlement phase are examined in some detail.