The recent suspension of KwaZulu- Natal Land Claims Commissioner (KZN LCC) Siduduzile Sosibo, has been met by renewed optimism that the slow pace of land reform in the province will now pick up momentum and yield workable and sustainable outcomes for all stakeholders in the challenging process.
Staff at the KZN LCC’s Pietermaritzburg offices recently submitted a list of grievances against Sosibo, to Acting Chief Land Claims Commissioner Blessing Mphela and they also went on strike. The staff claimed was incompetent, abused her powers, and didn’t effectively communicate policy decisions to her staff, all of which allegedly put the staff in a bad light in the public eye.
An urgent meeting was called between Mphela and the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), which represented some of the KZN LCC staff, to discuss the allegations against Sosibo. ccording to Nehawu spokesperson Zola Saphetha, the meeting resulted in a memorandum of agreement being signed between the parties. “It is binding and among other aspects, requires the immediate appointment of an acting land claims commissioner for KwaZulu-Natal, as well as the appointment of an independent investigating agency to determine where problems lie within the province’s Land Claims Commission offices in terms of human resources, financial management, quality assurance and legal compliance,” explained Saphetha. “The investigation must be completed within three months and recommendations submitted on how to remedy problems.”
N ehawu added that Sosibo had been transferred to the Pretoria offices of the National Commission pending the outcome of the investigation, after which a final decision on her future would be made. Mphela will act as interim land claims commissioner in the province in addition to his national role. “We want to see progress in the settling of land claims in KwaZulu-Natal,” said Saphetha. “also want to see our members providing a quality service to stakeholders.” R obin Barnsley, president of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu), said it was a good thing Sosibo had been transferred and that there was an investigation into the functioning of the KZN LCC. He added that it appeared as if had been unable to grasp the complexities of her role and was unable to work effectively on solutions. Kwanalu said it had held informal discussions with Mphela regarding the deployment of a task team to address the massive backlog in land claims, but the agricultural union had not been invited to assist the task team. “ Kwanalu would appreciate the opportunity to work with the team because we feel we have workable solutions,” explained Barnsley. “The KZN has suffered major credibility problems recently, but this has not necessarily been the fault of its staff, but more the result of a lack of good leadership. The commission must regain credibility to be seen as an honest broker in the land claims process.”
He added that it was a critical time for the KZN to be making informed and objective decisions because of the financial problems of agricultural in the province. e warned that it was a dangerous financial environment in which to be putting large numbers of new farmers on land that could currently barely support a few families. Barnsley praised the KZN staff for taking a stand against what they perceived as actions undermining the commission’s mandate of efficiency and credibility. “They obviously want to do their jobs properly and this is encouraging to see,” he said. “This shows that all stakeholders in the land claims process could work together to find positive and effective solutions.” – Lloyd Phillips
