Times Of Swaziland: PLOTS GALORE AT MCHALAGENI FARM

PLOTS GALORE AT MCHALAGENI FARM
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 BY SIBUSISO SHANGE on 06/05/2019 09:21:00


NGWENYA- It will be ‘plots galore’ at Mchalageni Farm situated in Ngwenya.
This is because the current owners of the farm, which has been converted into a
township, had been advised to sell portions of their plots to fund
infrastructure development that will run into millions.
The farm owners would be expected to sell pieces of the land and further
construct their own shopping complex near the border gate.
The farm is situated adjacent to Ngwenya Border Gate.
Initially, the farm was purchased by 42 residents when its actual owner
relocated to South Africa after the country’s independence.
It appeared that the farm owner feared that government might confiscate the farm
after the country gained its independence in 1968.
Information gathered from the actual buyers of the farm, was that the capital
share of the farm was E50 000 in 1971 which resulted in them parting with E1 200
each.
“We wanted a small piece of land for our handcraft markets near the border
gate, but the farm owner advised us to purchase the whole farm because he was
relocating to South Africa,” said an ex-miner who was part of the project.
Another resident of the farm said as time went on, they decided to convert the
private farm into a township.
The resident said the conversion of the farm into a township came with benefits
to the residents, as it improved the value of the land which came with a high
purchase price.
He said in several meetings they planned to improve the infrastructure to meet
the town standards. As a result, the resident stated that they requested the
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to declare the farm a township in
2001.
However, he said they had a challenge with the cost of infrastructure resulting
in the failure of the project.
The resident mentioned that they renewed the application after they found a
strategy to fund the infrastructure. Asked about the strategy, the resident said
the residents had agreed to contribute towards the infrastructure which includes
roads, water, sewers and electricity.
Stakeholders
“We have engaged all the relevant stakeholders; however we have not finalised
the quotations. Evaluations were done and we got a provisional approval in
January 2019. Since some residents have no source of income, we have advised
them to sell a portion of their land so that they could get money and contribute
to the infrastructure development,” he said.
The residents confided that some residents were reluctant to contribute to the
project. He said some were complaining about where they would get the income,
since they were old and unemployed.
However, he said they had since advised the reluctant residents about the
benefits of converting the farm into a town. He made an example that the value
of the land was better once a place was declared a town. He stated that the
majority of residents had plenty land within the farm.
While at the farm, it was observed that the majority of residents had big
portions of land. Some people had invested in flats while some kept the vacant
land.
“As you can see, I have already demolished my four flats so that I can build
proper ones. I will also demolish my houses because I have a proper plan for my
land,” said an optimistic resident.