Frustrated land claimants turn to substance abuse
ALEXANDRA - Land claimants are resorting to self destructive behaviour to soothe their anxiety and frustration on the slow process of resolving their claims.
Some land claimants in Alexandra are resorting to self destructive behaviour due to the slow resolution of their claims.
This was revealed by a claimant who has formed an organisation which is compiling a database of those ‘at risk’, for use in seeking help for them. Mahlomola Malinga (56) established MPM Allinone Trading company when he realised that some of the 2 552 claimants were traumatised by the thought of possibly not getting back their land within the prescribed time due to government’s slow process in adjudicating their claims.
“This trauma is making them resort to crime, alcohol and drug abuse to numb their feelings,” said Malinga. “The trauma is aggravated further by their lack of skills and hope of getting employment. A few receive rentals from tenants, but some don’t pay as they know that its difficult to enforce payments on contested properties.”
He added that in some instances the property owners were threatened by tenants and with no income, they (property owners) became squatters while tenants lived in comfort on their properties.
He was concerned that some property owners could die before their cases were resolved. “This will lead to huge losses for their children who will not be able to pursue claims they know very little about. Many of them don’t even stay in Alexandra, know relatives who will help them pursue the claims or have the courage to face tenants who will intimidate them from pursuing what is rightfully theirs.”
Malinga also sees the database as a useful resource for the youth wing of the Alexandra Land and Property Owners Association to use in mobilising youths to have an interest in recovering their family’s land rights.
Malinga’s personal claim is for his mother’s land on 18th Avenue on which the City of Johannesburg has a sewage pump station. Shops are also built on the land and there was a Telkom phone facility which was disconnected after he informed them of his claim. There is also a container which was once used as an internet facility, and a disused car wash.
