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Cape Town – A multi-billion-rand land claim by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and other traditional leaders had not been lodged as yet, chief land claims commissioner Nomfundo Gobodo said on Wednesday.
“We haven’t received any claim of that nature from the king,” she said on the sidelines of a briefing to Parliament’s land reform portfolio committee.
Both individuals and traditional leaders were welcome to lodge a claim.
“We receive claims from any citizen in the country that can validate they have a right to land as a result of dispossession due to the 1913 Act. So as long as your claim relates to that time period then we will receive your claim and we don’t discriminate on who lodges a claim.”
Last month, the Ingonyama Trust indicated it would help the king lodge the claim for land in various provinces.
At the time, trust chairperson Jerome Ngwenya said research was under way to determine the claim’s exact extent.
The claim would cover land taken from 1838 onwards. According to land claims legislation only land taken since 1913 could be claimed, which could still make the claim “very substantial”.
Briefing MPs, Gobodo said by Monday afternoon 12 464 new claims had been lodged. – AFP
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