13 HOMESTEADS FACING DEMOLITION

MBABANE – There seems to be an irresolvable dispute on who has the authority to allocate land between traditional authorities and the Mbabane Municipal Council.

As of today, there are 13 cases that are pending before court on residents who may have their structures demolished if the court rules in favour of the council.  The council last week cited the appointment of traditional authorities in Mbabane as one factor that has jeopardised development.

Resisting

This was said by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Municipal Council of Mbabane, Gideon Mhlongo.
Mhlongo said this has also led to the council having to go to court on cases where residents are resisting abiding by its rules.
“As we speak we have about 13 cases that are pending in court while we have also been granted court orders on some cases that have resulted in demolitions,” he said.

He said the appointment of traditional authorities in 2015 delayed development because of the conflicts that result from residents who carry on with construction on land that the council has reserved for apportioning.
Mhlongo reported this to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development Prince Simelane, who was in the company of Principal Secretary Clifford Mamba and other officials from the ministry.

Displayed

He displayed a map showing the boundaries where Mangwaneni for instance, was mapped as one area that is situated within the city boundaries.
Acting Ludzidzini Governor Lusendvo Fakudze said as far as tradition was concerned, none of the areas that have traditional authorities appointed by the King belong to the respective city councils.
He made an example of the areas named emaNgwane which are famously known as Mangwaneni, saying they were present in almost all the country’s main towns.

“These areas have traditional custodians and they essentially belong to the Indlovukazi (Queen Mother). This arrangement dates back to decades ago during the time of Indlovukazi Gwamile who was the founder of these areas,” he said.
Fakudze went on to narrate that after the founding Indlovukazi, these areas were left under Indlovukazi Lomawa Ndwandwe.

From her, the ownership of the areas was taken by NaboMshengu, NaboZihlathi and then the reigning Indlovukazi.
When asked about the mandate of the traditional authorities in the area, Fakudze said they are custodians of the areas and they generally perform all duties entrusted to a chief.

Allocate

Chiefs have a right to allocate land which effectively means the ones in the town outskirts have this very same privilege, hence the dispute. This is exactly what concerns the Mbabane Municipal Council CEO as he foresees more demolitions taking place due to this confusion of whether land must be bought or a traditional structure can simply allocate.

However, Fakudze remained adamant that these places are not under any council and such should be looked into thoroughly.
So far, all cases that have been bought before court, involving land allocated through traditional structures (kukhonta) within the council’s jurisdiction, have resulted in demolitions.

This effectively means the courts have so far ruled in the favour of Mbabane Municipal Council.

Concerned

This is why the CEO raised the issue as they are concerned about the number of people who will continue to build houses on land they were allocated by these traditional structures, only to be demolished in a few years.
A profile given by the CEO was that Mbabane is constituted by 12 Wards and has a population of about 61 940 people.

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