PLANS to auction off prime vacant land in Greyville later this month might be in jeopardy after it emerged that it’s currently at the centre of a land claim dispute.
According to adverts, the land – situated on the corner of Osborne Street, Kolling Street and First Avenue, Greyville – belongs to Telkom and is being sold by an auction company, IN2ASSETS.
The online advert states: “The property offers investment potential. Seize the opportunity to develop in one of Greyville’s most strategic locations. With excellent visibility, accessibility and proximity to key amenities, this site offers exceptional potential for a high-return investment. This property forms part of a National Telkom Portfolio.”
Set to go under the hammer on August 29, interested parties are required to pay a registration fee of R50 000.
However, the Sunday Tribune this week discovered that the land is subject to land claims dating back to the 1990s, which have still not been settled.
For more than two decades, the Block AK Action Committee has worked tirelessly to ensure that various tracts of land in Greyville are returned to their rightful owners and their descendants, after they were dispossessed of their homes during forced removals under the apartheid era Group Areas Act.
Mohammed Vahed, who heads Block AK, said that in 2011 the land was also earmarked for auction, but they managed to stop it. This time they would do the same.
“Now we need to stop that auction immediately. And even if it’s only four (claimants), there's many others, another 20 or 30 others, that want land restitution in Block AK, which means there’s absolutely no condition that the land be auctioned.”
The Regional Land Claims Commission KZN confirmed to the Sunday Tribune that there were claims on the property.
It said that in total it had received 317 claims under Block AK Townlands, and 17 of those land claims related to the exact plot to be auctioned off on behalf of Telkom.
“Within the 17 Telkom property claims, a total of 13 claims have been finalised and four remain outstanding; however, the four outstanding claims are currently being processed. The officials will on a date yet to be confirmed be holding an options workshop with the claimants in line with the provisions of the Restitution Act. The workshop assists the claimants to understand the different settlement options that are provided for in the Act and enable them to decide on whether they want land restoration or financial compensation to settle their claims,” the commission said.
One of those claimants is Cassim Lockhat, whose parents and grandparents were forcibly removed from Greyville.
Lockhat said that selling off the land while it was under claim was unconstitutional. “My rights are being taken away.”
His application for land restitution was made in 1997; at the time, the Land Claims Court recognised he had a valid claim. However, when he and the other claimants asked for the land, they were told it was held by Telkom.
“This was in 1997 and early 2000, when there was a bit of a movement and activity and we had the group and some people wanted the money. They said if you can’t give us the land, give us the market value. And they were giving something like 20% of the value. So I said, why should we let it go at that value?
“They said they didn’t have the money and that’s the only offer that we can make. And then nothing happened.”
Attempts to reach Telkom this week were unsuccessful. However, the Sunday Tribune spoke to the auctioneers, who said the auction would go ahead as planned unless their client issued different instructions.
“Our hands are tied. We have to wait for Telkom to tell us that ‘yes, this is actually the property that you guys are taking to auction, so stop the auction’. But for now, it doesn’t seem like it is,” said Rowena Moodley, national operations manager at IN2ASSETS.