AYABONGA CAWE: Renewed furore over the licensing of water
Agricultural interests are worried about the 50%-75% equity requirements for water
“We have 238 people there; we plough, but not very much,” chief Lekoko Montshioa said at a hearing in Mahikeng of the Native Land Commission chaired by WH Beaumont, six months after the passing of the 1913 Natives Land Act. “We mostly herd cattle there; we value that land, because there is plenty of water there and it is good grazing land,” the chief said.
Mosita, the area the chief was referring to, was considered to “not be suitable for native occupation, (as) it is a desert and there is no water”. Fifty-five years later, in 1968, his people would be removed from the bountiful lands they had occupied since the 1500s to a new settlement. In 1996 they lodged a land claim to be restored to their land, which was granted in 2020 under section 2 of the Restitution Act. ..
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