eMpangisweni community trust claim

Abstract

This diagnostic study examines the case of the restoration of ten farms in KwaZulu-Natal, in the area of abaQulusi Local Municipality and Zululand District Municipality, to the eMpangisweni Community Trust in 2003. The restored land is 6,025 hectares in extent. The report outlines the community’s attempt 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 in future. 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 then examined.