George Herald | Farmers protest for land

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Farmers protest for land
13:00 (GMT+2), Fri, 06 July 2012

About 50 farmers took to the street this morning to protest for land in Thembalethu from where the Department of Human Settlements wants to evict them. Here they are in Unity Park in York Street. Photo: Alida de Beer

GEORGE NEWS - About 50 small-scale farmers participated in a protest march from Unity Park to the municipal buildings this morning.

They are protesting against their eviction from land in Thembalethu for which they had signed purchase agreements in 1999 with the land owner, the Department of Human Settlements.

About 350 hectares, farmed on by 29 farmers, form part of the land that is in dispute, according to John Schoeman, a lawyer and member of the Ballots Bay Veld School Trust who is assisting the farmers in their plight. The land is situated along the coast line adjacent to the Ballots Bay Veld School.

These farmers have been waiting in vain for the purchases to be finalised since signing the purchase agreements. "We don't know what government intends to do with the land or if it is earmarked for development," he said.

Memorandums were handed over to representatives of the Human Settlements Department, Department of Agriculture, George Municipality and Rural Development Department.

Fransiena Mtabati, one of the people who was part of the protest, said she and her brother have taken over the farm on which her mother had been farming after her death last year. "At the moment we plant vegetables for our own consumption, but we cannot develop our farms further because of the ongoing dispute."

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ARTICLE: ALIDA DE BEER, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST