(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU – DOZENS of Basotho in Matatiele are pushing to reclaim their ancestral land that was seized by colonialists two centuries ago, thepost can reveal.
Those pushing the claim are being led by the clan chiefs of Bakhatla, Basia, Makholokoe, Baphuthi, and Bakuena living in both Lesotho and South Africa.
The fresh push comes after the discovery of historical documents by the Matatiele's Basia chief, Tello Lethola Mophuthing II, the great-grandson of Chief Mokhatla Tabane.
The Lesotho delegation is led by the chief of Makholokoe, Chief Sebonomoea Khoase Ramainoane II, whom King Letsie III has gazetted as the Chief of Koung Ha-Chere in Maseru district.
The chief of the Griqua, Adam Kok Vivian II, has been invited to the meeting that is scheduled for today.
Chief Tello Mophuthing II's discovery reveals that in 1865, Dutch settlers, with the support of the British's Cape Colony government, dispossessed Basotho of their land and sent them to Lesotho in Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka, and Mokhotlong districts.
The documents have the names of chiefs and their subjects who were driven from their lands.
Ramainoane told thepost yesterday that during that time there were no boundaries in that part of Lesotho separating the two countries.
“The settlers expelled Basotho from their land and forced them to leave their immovable properties such as livestock,” Ramainoane said.
“They put the police on the way, where they had created the boundaries by themselves, and when Basotho who had been expelled passed there they would be ordered to leave their livestock because what had been expelled were them alone, not their livestock,” he said.
Ramainoane said today's meeting is to start the journey of studying who are eligible to claim land and claim reparations for lost property and amenities.
He said a committee that will oversee the coordination of land claimants will be elected today.
The second meeting is expected at the same venue in May.
Ramainoane said they expect to send a delegation to the president of South Africa“to officially claim the land and reparations”.
“This move should not be confused with the one that was pushed by political parties in the past with which they pushed for the return of the ceded Basotho territories,” he said.
Ramainoane said this one is meant to facilitate the reclaiming of land by individuals who can prove through documents and otherwise that a certain part of the modern day South Africa belonged to their family.
It is not driven by the state or a political party“but the actual descendants of the victims who can claim their family inheritance that was stolen or taken by force”.
He cited the case of former home affairs minister Motlalentoa Letsosa's right to claim parts of Thaba-Phatšoa across the border near Mafeteng where his ancestors were expelled.
“It will depend on whether the Letsosa family will want to go to the president of South Africa and prove to him that the land actually belongs to them”.
“It is the same way with the family of Moshoeshoe I's brother, Posholi, who were driven out of Zastron. They can claim that land as a family,” he said.
“The same way goes with the Makoae family in Qacha's Nek who can march to South Africa and legally and officially lodge a claim for their lands in Matatiele.”
There are several families that have shown interest in the move to reclaim their lands in South Africa.
One of these is Lethola, a Lephuthing by clan, whose descendants say he was removed from Mabenyeng in Matatiele and resettled in Qacha's Nek, Ha-Sekake, where he established a village called Matholeng, which was named after him.
Another interested family is that of Ramoroba Thatho who was also removed from Matatiele and resettled in Quthing in Seforong.
The Mothebesoane family that was removed from what is now called Mount Fletcher or a place close to it, claim the ruins of their village are still found in Ha-Mothebesoane.
Then there is the Makoti family, which is now known by the surname Faso that was also expelled together with the Mothebesoane family.
These families have grown to hundreds of members.
Caswell Tlali