Bhizana village of Izinini finally receives title deeds

Thecommunity ofIzininivillage inBhizana was overjoyed when they received title deeds for their land from minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development Thoko Didiza.

Their1,282ha ofland waswrongfully seized by the apartheid regime.

Didiza wasin thevillage toofficially hand over thetitle deeds, which willbenefit 1,279 households and a total of 1,300 beneficiaries.

Their land claim wasapproved by the governmentin 2016andtheyreceived asettlement of R22m for thatpart of the land that could not be reinstated,which included the area where the Bhizana CBD was built.

Thegovernment gavethe communitya further R5.1m for theoperation of their forestrybusiness nowcovering581ha ofthis land.Their enterprise,IzininiCPA, whichemploys58peoplein permanentjobs,makesa grossannual incomeofR14.6m throughthe sale of logs harvested from their land to Sappi in an offtake agreement.

DumisaniSiyele, chairofthe IzininiCommunity Property Association, which is hailed as atop-performing communityproperty association, signed the title deed on behalf of the community and said they felt fortunate to have seen this day.

Siyelesaid: Otherswhostarted thisland claim couldn tlive to see thisbeautiful day. We are thankful to the government. We have a project to fight poverty and underdevelopment where youth areemployed. Let s respectthe landand useitfor moredevelopment that will assist even unborn children.

Headman Mandisi Ndunge said: There has beenanoutcryabout thelackofthetitle deed.Thisis thebiggestthing.It givesuslegal rightsand confirmsthatthisland belongsto us. I don thave manywordsofappreciation.I am just so very happy today. It has been a long journey but today the land is legally ours!”

Sappi general managerSandile Nkosi said theywere committedtowork withgovernment andcommunities tofoster self-development.

“This is one of the best projects in the country. Insome instancesit’s hardto work with many people, but here they work together. Izinini has no loanlike other growers in our Khulisaprogramme.Our productsarealternativestoplastic sothedemandis veryhigh.As Sappi strides to meetthe demand, the company istargeting 30,000ha in theEastern Cape andwe willachievethat sustainabledevelopment when we work together.”

Izininiis oneofthe forestrybusinesses supportedby thedepartmentof ruraldevelopment and agrarian reform through its entity the Eastern CapeRural Development Agency to commercialise forestry production in the province.

Since 2013, the agencyhas invested more thanR21m inthe businessin training,buying newtrees, vehiclesand administrationservices to assist theenterprise with improved operations and production.

MECNonkqubela Pieterssaidgovernment had upliftedcommunity ofIzinini village through the support provided by government institutions to their business.

“It’swith delightthatweare heretodayto finish this programmeof development. It’s myexperience thatCPAs andchiefs arefightinginsucha waythatdevelopmentstalls, hence I appreciate theunity displayed here,” said Pieters.

Didizasaid: “Financial compensation has beengranted herebut thereare thosefamilies who have not benefited because of family feuds. Iurge those familiesto reachan agreement and approach thecommittee so that thedepartmentcan paytheircompensation,