For 68-year-old Mr Musa Shabangu, the memory of that sunny 1975 day when his family was kicked off his family land is a sore wound that has not healed. He struggles to hold back tears as he speaks of that day, a day that changed his family’s life from one of plenty to nothing.
The public hearings hosted by the Joint Constitutional Review Committee held in Jozini in KwaZulu-Natal represent to Mr Shabangu a hope that this wound will finally be healed. “I fully support the amendment of section 25, which will ensure that my family received back what rightfully belongs to it. I came here to tell these parliamentarians they must amend section 25; that’s all I ask,” Mr Shabangu said.
Mr Shabangu’s family was forcefully removed from Ngoje on the outskirts of Vryheid in 1975 and they lost everything. “I feel like crying when I remember that day we lost everything. We had about 90 head of cattle, 25 sheep, 80 goats and 21 pigs. We lost all that livestock on that fateful day. To this day, it hurts to think of all the pain we suffered on that day,” Mr Shabangu emphasised.
He further says their traditional leader was removed and relocated to Paulpietersburg. This left the villagers without the protection and guardianship of their leader. “Our house was totally destroyed; we could only recover a few things. From there, we went into exile in Swaziland. On our return, we moved to uMhlabuyalingana, were my mother was selling alcohol to put food on the table. We struggled, staying in a corrugated iron structure, but it was nothing compared to our old house,” Mr Mahlangu told the public hearings.
To this day, he says he has never married, because he does not have anything to offer to a possible bride. “All I want is the land of my forefathers so I can use it to be a better person than I am today,” Mr Shabangu explained.
While he wants the land that was forcefully taken, he also called for greater support of beneficiaries to ensure recipients of land are able to use the land productively for the benefit of the country.
Mr Shabangu said that the amendment must be done speedily to ensure they get the land while they are still alive. “My mother and some of my siblings have passed on. I am hoping I will get my land before I pass on from this world,” Mr Shabangu concluded.
Malatswa Molepo
20 July 2018
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