Meeting on Alex land issues
ALEXANDRA - members of the Alexandra Land and Property Owners Association will gather at the Roman Catholic Church school hall to hear the latest news on the progress made in recent settlement talks with government.
A meeting of land activists in Alexandra will be held at the Roman Catholic Church school hall on 30 November.
Members of the Alexandra Land and Property Owners Association are scheduled to meet at 9am, and the secretary general of the association Jacky Segopa said the meeting will endeavour to map the way forward in the fight for the restoration of land and property rights in the township.
Since the promise made by President Jacob Zuma during his tour of Alexandra late last year to fast track the restoration process, the association has had several meetings with the Gauteng government and City of Johannesburg officials. A task team comprising various officials and the land activists was formed, but to date there seems to be no tangible progress made.
Of the 2 553 properties claimed between 1995 and 1998, the government has only offered to settle 120 properties. These are the so-called ‘uncontested properties’, which refers to properties with a singular claim to them.
“We are highly suspicious of this process but we will see when we eventually cross that bridge,” Segopa said.
“If they can settle the 120 properties, we shall take it as a step in the right direction which will give some impetus to our fight for full restoration of all properties claimed.”
The association is expected to report back to its members on the proposals made by government officials. A mandate should also be given to the association leaders at the meeting on whether to accept or reject the government proposal to initially settle the 120 properties.
