GOEDGEDACHT TRUST
“The Path out of Poverty Programme (POP)”
ELANDSKLOOF FARM ENUMERATIONREPORT
2
Contents:
1. Introduction - page 3 - 52. Goedgedacht’s Path out of Poverty(POP) Programme - page 5 - 93. The Enumeration Process - page 94. The Research Methodology - page10 - 125. The Enumeration Results: Our Findings - page12 - 166. Conclusion - page 17
PDF Created with deskPDF PDF Writer - Trial :: http://www.docudesk.com
3
1. Introduction
Background information:
“The Dutch Reformed Church bought the farm Elandskloof in 1861 in order to set upa mission station. The Elandskloof community trace their history on the farm tobefore this time, but they lived on the mission station under the rules set down by theChurch.In 1900 the state granted a further portion of surrounding land to the Church, statingin the title deed that it was expressly to be used for mission purposes. At present itconsists of 3100 Ha of which 10% is arable, the rest is mountain. The communityassisted in the payment of the surveying and transfer costs.From the early 1940s, however the neighbouring farmers pressurised the Church tosell the farm….The Church complained that the community did not pay its taxes andthat the farm was an economic drain on its resources. During that period variousnew racist laws, especially the Group Areas Act of 1950, were passed.In the early1960s, the State and the Church jointly decided to scrap the clause in thetitle deed limiting the land for missionary purposes. The Church was then able to sellthe land to a neighbouring farmer……In 1962 the new owner, a white farmer, evicted the Elandskloof community, living onthe recently sold Elandskloof Mission Station. This was after a long period duringwhich the community had tried to defend their land rights by negotiating with andappealing to the church, the State and the farmer. Their leaders had been thrown in jail, their access roads and paths to their lands fenced and their animals burnt inmysterious circumstances.Eventually, the people were forced off the land and scattered throughout theWestern Cape.The desire to return remained with the Elandsklowers, especially amongst a groupthat were given permission by a nearby farmer to “squat” on his land. Then in themid-1980s, the community began to actively struggle to move back to Elandskloof.They were offered various alternatives but refused them……With the passing of theRestitution of Land Rights Act in 1994, the Elandskloof claim was automaticallytransferred to the new Lands Claims Commissioner. A twenty-month negotiationsprocess, under the auspices of the Land Claims Comissioner and including thecommunity, the Department of Land Affairs and the owner of the land, thenproceeded and eventually on 20 June 1996 a settlement was reached. Thissettlement became an order of court on the 15 October 1996 and the Elandsklowerstook possession of the land on 16 December 1996.The land was held in a Communal Property Association. Any communal land-holdingarrangement needs to keep a register of the beneficiaries of such an asset. Thisforms the basis of the tenure system, the application for state assistance, thedevelopment of cohesion in the community and the granting of real authority to theelected committees.Great tension arose as to who qualified to be called an ‘Elandsklower’. There were125 families who were part of the community that had been dispossessed in 1962.PDF Created with deskPDF PDF Writer - Trial :: http://www.docudesk.com
of 00
Leave a Comment