The government has set up a multidisciplinary task team to facilitate peace between black and white communities near the Hartbeestpoort Dam in the North West.
The unrest has resulted in several leading black entrepreneurs being brutally assaulted and their businesses burned down allegedly by their white competitors who are accused of gate keeping the lucrative dam economy.
On Friday a government delegation led by deputy water and sanitation minister David Mahlobo convened a meeting during which the warring groups expressed their concerns.
Mahlobo said the government, which owns the disputed land could not impose solutions urging residents to work together across colour lines.
“Will not allow criminality, will not allow barriers. There’s going to be order, there’s going to be peace, and there’s going to be coexistence. But if you still feel strongly about your issues of non behavior. This area must behave like a sea. It must not allow that
there will be those who not want co existence. Those ones, they are free to look for other opportunities somewhere else. But please be renowned for peace,” said the deputy minister.
Mahlobo established a task team that will comprise representatives of key government entities as well as various community groups and is expected to meet for the first time early next month.
“That’s what we want. We want peace. That’s how I thought our engagement today will conclude. I have a date with you. I want the dreamer to come true. The date we have is the first week of November. But currently my provincial head, where even the CEO of Magalies, provincial government , head office of the department will coordinate all these other matters when you come in, we formally not in the structure. Who are the members? And nobody is going to tell me this organisation can’t come in all organisation, but it will not be a mass meeting. It will be a meeting of Representatives, and no representative must suffer the problem of not reporting to communities,” said Mahlobo.
At the centre of the tension is access to land which is currently dominated by whites most of whom occupied during the last days of the now defunct apartheid under so-called Permission to Occupy and 99 year leases for which they paid nothing.
These includes plots as well as houses which are regarded as having been hijacked by their occupants.
The apartheid era arrangements have left black entrepreneurs unable to compete in the area and subjected to hostility often expressed through violence as well as vehement objections to the establishment of new black owned businesses.
Mahlobo said his department, effectively the landlord, will investigate all leases with the aim of levelling the playing field.
“I know We used to have the best houses around all the dams. we instructed our team to get back those leases. there are people occupying state land and state property illegally and we have got to have a discussion. It is not to say they are to be evicted but we have to find a way of starting on a clean slate,” he said.
Some of the aggrieved black groupings boycotted Friday’s meeting claiming to have not been invited.
The South African National Civic Organisation which has been a leading voice on the matter participated reluctantly and also shared the concern of government leaving out some of the affected parties.
“In interested people were never invited. Most stakeholders were not invited. The people that initiated the shutdown Harties was never invited. Sanco was never invited. As we are. We were the people at the forefront of the shutdown. So this was just a government event whereby business, business forum between blacks and whites were called, and after a meeting, the Deputy Minister gave them food. It was not about our people’s bread and butter. The meeting has not confronted racism which is the big issue here, racism is still rife in Hartbeest,” said SANCO North West Provincial Chairperson.