Limpopo family set to take on municipality over communal land
A family in Nkowankowa in Limpopo is gearing up for a court battle with the Greater Tzaneen Municipality over land which they claim belongs to them.
The Moagi family is unhappy after the local municipality removed their boundary fence to create space for the local cemetery.
Micheal Moagi says no consultation took place.
"We tried to stop them because we were surprised, we were never informed. So they (the municipality) went to court. Around 17 February we received a court order refraining us from stopping the people from working on our farm. That's where the battle started."
However, the municipality says that it bought about 19 hectares of the land from the local chief Samuel Mhlava.
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"The family that we're talking about has their portion in that area, it's not affected. The area we're talking about is an open area. We involved the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform throughout the process. There's also a council resolution from the Nkuna Traditional Council selling us the land," says spokesperson Neville Ndlala.
The council's chairperson Ntombi Mhlaba says the land is communal, and was allocated to the family and other community members. She says the portion of the land sold to the municipality does not belong to the Moagi family.
"What we have realised is that they did some extensions on the land that they were given and planted on the area they were not given."
The court case is set to start next month.