A new chapter in the running of the former Boerelande Farms now under the chieftaincy of Baga Petlhu Communal Property Association (CPA) has been ushered following an elective meeting conducted by a non-partisan mediator, Ms Puleng Diphoko, appointed by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. A five-member committee was finally chosen drawn from a two-group contestation on September 26, 2018.

The feud started in August 2016 as the two groups nearly exchanged blows in the very farms, one supporting the chief and another calling itself the Community Concerned Group led by its chairman, Daniel Assegai, composed of mainly former occupants of the farms displaced during the colonial rule.

The rift ensued as the Concerned Community Group went to reoccupy the farms claiming that they were born and bred at the controversial farms, while the interim committee running the affairs of the CPA under the chieftaincy, hotly resisted the move.

Further engagements with government slowly thawed the dispute between the two groups, culminating in the recent elective meeting where a legitimate committee to run the affairs of the CPA was finally chosen. The former interim CPA committee was totally disbanded through the electoral process with the Concerned Community Group, taking the reins in the new committee where four of its members were unanimously chosen with one from the other group.

The Camden Baga-Petlhu CPA has about twenty-one farms in which the new CPA will activate farming projects. Presently, there are fifty-six members or households. Of these, 60% are deceased as the resettlement process took too long to be finalised by the ANC government. There are about two hundred beneficiaries out of these members.

The outgoing chairperson of the CPA, Olebogeng Gabriel Wesi, said that he was partially happy with the electoral process, however, he gave his blessings to the new committee. “As this matter has been brought to its finality I am pleading for the withdrawal of the case currently in the courts. This is in the spirit of peace and non-vengeance. On the issue of funds, the CPA does not have funds and was expecting finances from the department”, Mr Wesi clarified.

The project coordinator from the department who monitored the election at Leliefontein Farm House, expressed her happiness and said that the process had been transparent and would bring closure to the dispute.

The chairman of the Concerned Community Group, Mr Assega,i said that they were not fighting individuals, but simply wanted legitimacy of the CPA, in order to stimulate farming projects in the targeted farms and to recognise and reintegrate the rightful former settlers. “We were colonially evicted from these farms. Now that we have reclaimed them, let both members and beneficiaries maximise their potential. Government is ready to recapitalise the occupants with the necessary tools.”