KwaDukathole families still waiting for R115.7m land restitution 12 years on

More than 190 families forcibly removed during apartheid from their homes in KwaDukathole, Ekurhuleni, are still waiting for restitution 12 years after the compensation process began. The families were among more than 700 claimants who were relocated to Katlehong after being removed from their homes; of the 706 original claimants, 510 have been paid, leaving 196 still waiting.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has offered R115,717,721 in financial compensation, but the outstanding beneficiaries must first undergo verification to confirm they are descendants of the dispossessed families. Department spokesperson Sibusiso Lubisi said the outstanding claimants are expected to be paid in the 2027/28 financial year, subject to the completion of that process, and that payments are made in batches and can take about two years because of compliance requirements.

Lubisi said the department was aware of the 196 beneficiaries on the court list and had met them and their legal representative in Katlehong in February and April this year. He said 95% of the 510 approved beneficiaries had been paid, with payment reconciliation expected to be completed by the end of December, and that the 196 were not part of the initial list submitted by the KwaDukathole land claims committee and could not be verified before the first payments were made.

Claimant Lucky Dhlamini said the 196 were removed from the original list after disagreements with their lawyer, Advocate Lebogang Matloga, whom they accused of overcharging. He said each of the 706 original claimants was paid R220,000, excluding a 12% lawyer's fee of more than R35,000 per claimant, and that documents showed an initial award of R63 million followed by another R54 million. Matloga declined to comment, saying he still had to respond to the claimants about the status of the process. The community is now demanding a specific payment date, saying it has already waited more than a decade.