Villagers demand compensation for betterment removals
by Åsa Eriksson Monday, Dec. 05, 2005 at 7:47 AM
infoags@mail.ngo.za

More than 7000 people gathered in rural Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape on Saturday, to celebrate the “Vulamasango Singene” campaign, which aims to secure compensation for victims of betterment dispossession in the province.

The stadium in Cofimvaba was filled with people from 85 villages in the western part of the former Transkei, wearing yellow t-shirts with the campaign slogan: Vulamasango Singene (open the doors, we go in). Music- and dance groups were performing in front of the excited crowd, who also listened to speak-outs from people whose land was taken away when the betterment policy of the former apartheid government was implemented from the 1930´s and onwards. Nomkhita Davidson spoke about the day when her family was forcibly removed in the 1960´s.
“They burned our houses and chased us with guns. We ran away without our possessions. A woman had to give birth to her child in the mountains. Gun shots were fired all around us. It was a terrible day”, she said.
The villages affected by betterment dispossession were excluded in the government´s land restitution policy documents. In the Eastern Cape, land service NGOs were instructed not to lodge restitution claims for these cases. The organisation initiating the “Vulamasango Singene” campaign, Border Rural Committee, (BRC) has been advocating since 2002 for an opportunity for these villages to receive compensation.
If the organisation and its campaign partners succeed, they hope that over 12 billion rand will come into the poorer areas of the province. BRC and representatives from the affected villages are now negotiating with the government on the possibilities to seek compensation.
The highlight of Saturday’s cultural event was supposed to be a performance by the singer Tandiswa Mazwai. But the airline she was travelling with was firstly delayed, and it also had sent her musical equipment to East London instead of Mthatha. The singer and her band only arrived in Cofimvaba when the event was supposed to finish. They improvised a short performance with some borrowed instruments, in order not to disappoint the remaining crowd.

Read more about betterment and the campaign:
http://www.brc21.co.za/projects.asp

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Nomkhita Davidson
by Åsa Eriksson Monday, Dec. 05, 2005 at 7:47 AM
infoags@mail.ngo.za

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Tandiswa Mazwai
by Åsa Eriksson Monday, Dec. 05, 2005 at 7:47 AM
infoags@mail.ngo.za

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