ANC and Ngonyama Trust to co-operate on rural development in KZN

ANC KwaZulu-Natal officials have met board members of the Ingonyama Trust and both parties have agreed to speed up the development of rural areas in the province.

The meeting follows the recent coronation of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, where he endorsed the Trust Rural Development Forum started by his late father, King Goodwill Zwelithini, and committed to work with it to develop rural communities through the trust.

The Ingonyama Trust’s sole trustee is the king, who owns about a third of the land in KwaZulu-Natal — most of it in poverty-stricken rural areas and some in semi-urban areas.

Provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo on Tuesday said the meetings, which included trust board chair Jerome Ngwenya, were fruitful.

“The ANC believes it is imperative to channel new development opportunities to these relatively underdeveloped areas by opening access to land for development and to support rural and township communities to become active partners in the development of their land,” Mtolo said.

Towns and townships on trust-controlled land need the co-operation of municipalities and the trust’s board, he added. “In the meeting ... it was agreed legal processes should be speeded up to ensure identified land is handed over to municipalities for development.

“Part of the agreement is also to resolve obstructions to the passing of freehold land ownership to persons in former black townships,” Mtolo said, adding that would substantially increase the value of such properties and provide owners with collateral for loans, enabling them to become active in the property market and the economy.”

The ANC and the board’s focus was to ensure the almost 3.3-million hectares of communally owned land was protected while not impeding access to it for economic development purposes and granting the occupants the full benefit thereof, Mtolo said.

“The PEC [provincial executive committee] also welcomed a resolution to streamline the work of government departments, their agencies and the trust’s board,” he said.

“This will help create certainty for potential investors who must partner with local communities for ... development. It should not be more complicated to do business in our province than it is in other provinces.”

The PEC hopes the ANC-led government and the trust will formalise the planning and promoting security of tenure in nodes such as Manguzi, Jozini, Hlabisa, Tugela Ferry, Dududu, King Cetshwayo, uThukela, Mbumbulu, KwaMashu among other areas.

“Critically, the PEC welcomed plans and efforts to encourage discussions between municipalities and the Ingonyama Trust board. These must be held on a regular and structured basis to facilitate rural and township development, and resolve matters of rates and levies,” Mtolo said.

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