X1PQPCBJ-EX220415
FREE
ESTABLISHED 1991
WEDNESDAY 2224 APRIL 2015
WWW.EXPRESSNEWS.CO.ZA
Battle over land } Jabulani Dlamini
THE battle for control of the Oppermansgronde land worth R110 million is at the centre of a march planned for Saturday (25/04) in Koffiefontein, about 200 km south-west of Bloemfontein. According to financial statements prepared by PJ Vorster Accountants of Kimberley in 2013, the 38 000 ha prime real estate was worth about R111 940 331 in May 2013. The land, handed back to the community in April 2003, can be utilised for crops and game, as well as animal farming. According to the applicants of the march, the march is essentially to lodge grievances against the chairperson of the Oppermansgronde Communal Property Association (CPA), Louis Barnes, and the South African Police Service (SAPS). Barnes was arrested on Saturday (18/04) at Oppermansgronde after allegedly assaulting and pointing a firearm at Peter August, a claimant. “He (Barnes) came here on Saturday at about 11:00 with his son and four of his workers
and kicked down my door and also pointed a gun in my face. That man must get off our land, he is not a rightful beneficiary of this land,” August told Express. Const. Masilela Langa, police spokesperson, confirmed that Barnes had been arrested on Saturday and appeared in the Koffiefontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday (20/04) and was remanded in custody. He will appear on Wednesday (22/04) for a formal bail application. The marchers also want the Free State chapter of the Rural Development and Land Reform Department, which is listed as the third respondent in a copy of the application to march, to intervene in the potentially deadly feud among the CPA members. Julian Topkin, spokesperson for the marchers, said they essentially wanted the committee of the CPA to be disbanded. “There is complete mismanagement and financial statements are not made available to other members, so we would like the department to suspend the committee and allow for the re-election of a new committee,” Topkin said. Asked about allegations that Barnes was not a rightful claimant of the Oppermansgronde land, Topkin said they had been speaking to the Rural Development Department for a long time about this, but nothing had happened thus far. “There are contradictions between the court papers filed by Barnes and what his
birth certificates says regarding who his parents are,” Topkin said. In an opposing affidavit filed in the Land Claims court in 2014 and signed by Barnes on 23 October 2013, Barnes said he was born out of a marriage between a descendant (Augusta) of the land’s original owner Frederik Salomo Opperman and his father Charles Barnes. Express is in possession of a copy of Barnes’s birth certificate which lists his mother as Cathleen Elizabeth Palm in contradiction to his claim in the affidavit. Serame Mzizi, director of corporate services for the Rural Development Department, said although Rural Development and Land Reform minister, Gugile Nkwinti, would be in Qwaqwa on Saturday and most officials would be there, someone from the department would receive the marchers’ memorandum. ) Repeated attempts for comment from committee members were unsuccessful, with Phillip Barnes’s phone, as well as that of his deputy, Artie de Koker, ringing unanswered. The phone of the CPA’s secretary, Dawie Cornellisen, was answered by a woman who said she was his domestic worker and he was not there. She could not say when he would be back. The cellphone number of Henry Jacquier, the CPA’s bookkeeper, was answered by a woman who did not identify herself, but said he was not available.
Smiling through sadness
NTOMBIZODWA JOL INGANA smiles broadly as her daughter Than deka appears to smile for the camera. The 13 yearold Thandeka has never been to school and does not even speak. She wears a hel met to protect her head, as she often falls and hurts herself. Read her heartbreaking story on p 3. Photo: Jabulani Dlamini
X1Q0J82W-EX220415