WHEN Deputy President Paul Mashatile visited a farm in Mpumalanga on Tuesday, 4 July, he was greeted by protesters who are beneficiaries of the Matsamo Communal Property Association (CPA).
They criticised government of failing to intervene in dissolving the current executive committee.
One of the protesters' placards read: "We want a fresh start of our CPA", while others read: "Minister, remove corrupt senior officials in Mpumalanga offices. We are sick and tired of fat cats in government", and "We need our hijacked land back."
The demonstrators stood outside one of the farming projects as Mashatile, deputy minister of rural development and land reform Mcebisi Skwatsha as well as Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala, and other officials took a walk-about on one of the farms.
Mashatile, who is chairman of Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Reform and Agriculture, was visiting the farm as part of an oversight visit to engage farmers who farm on state-leased farms and communal areas around the Nkomazi area in Mpumalanga.
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Eric Khoza, spokesman of the Matsamo CPA beneficiaries, told Daily Sun that they've tried to meet the provincial government several times, but never received any help.
He said beneficiaries are excluded from other activities and they tried several times to address malfunctioning farms and corruption, but with no success. Khoza alleged that the provincial office is siding with the outgoing executive to delay some of the processes.
"We protested because we believed we would get answers. We want the current executive dissolved and for an interim committee to be elected. We will have a meeting on Thursday, 6, July and all the beneficiaries must be there so that they can elect a new interim committee that can lead us through the verification and annual general meeting," he said.
Meanwhile, Matsamo CPA acting chairman Mcebisi Shabangu denied the claims.
He said: "This week there's a meeting arranged by the department to resolve matters between us and them. Nobody has been excluded."
Skwatsha said he visited the beneficiaries in November 2022 to try to resolve the issues.
"There is a mitigation process to try to bring the people together. The CPA has got rules relating to how beneficiaries benefit from this particular programme," he said.
Mashatile said that Skwatsha is already dealing with some of the concerns, adding that government will continue to give beneficiaries the necessary support they require.
