Cape Town - Tears flowed inside the Marks Building in Parliament when 81-year-old Juanita Solomon shared her heart-wrenching story of despair and hope in her nearly 30-year fight to get back the land in Retreat owned by her parents more than 80 years ago.
Earlier this week, Solomon, a former nurse, was accompanied by her grandson, Alfonso Solomon, armed with documents proving their ownership of the land.
Solomon’s father, Isaac Solomon, purchased the land when she was just three weeks old and farmed cattle and vegetables together with his wife and four children. But when the Group Areas Act came into being, the family were removed from their 16 plots which spanned 6.5 acres along 11th Avenue and Leytonstone Road in Retreat. The land was eventually sold by the apartheid government.
In 2015, hope was given to Solomon and her family when then mayor, Patricia de Lille handed the land back to her, only to have it taken away the very next day following administrative bungles and pressure.
Now, 29 years after placing a claim with the Regional Land Claims Commission, Solomon has vowed not to give up and has taken her plight to the corridors and seats of Parliament, where her voice was finally heard after even trying to reach the Presidency.
A brave Solomon addressed the new portfolio committee on land reform and rural development where she recounted how her family had been proud of the land they owned, only to lose it and get it back and then lose it again.
As Solomon began telling her story, tears were shed among members of the National Assembly.
“We have had tremendous disappointment in how they handled this. I was born and bred on the land. My father had a farm in Retreat and he made out a will that we must inherit,” she said, speaking boldly.
“When the Group Areas Act took over, we were dispersed off the farm. This was after my parents passed on and I had an attorney who took on our case for a land claim... and it was just empty promises.
“In 2015 we went to Patricia de Lille... and before the public in a big marquee it was said she was handing the property over to us ... and the very next day it was cancelled.”
Solomon said she became homeless after a storm damaged the council-owned home she had been living in.
“We were going to build homes. We were four children. When we’ve grown up, we must build our own homes, they said. We must be independent ... (but) due to the Group Areas Act, the land was given to another family.
“This is our property and I had siblings, but everything was negative and each time, we were told to wait and hang on. It became really bitter until now with this storm, where I found myself homeless, where my niece gave me assistance.”
Her grandson, Alfonso Solomon, said he would fight with his grandmother to fulfil her dream.
“This is a land claim that was initiated over 30 years ago, in 1995. She has followed up on this, week after week. Even before she retired, she worked night duty and would look after me and follow up on the land claims,” he said tearfully.
“We have been given the runaround by so many ministers and mayors and we have been pushed from one department to others, media campaigns. In 2015, it was the first time that she could sleep. Now we are living in gang-infested areas.
“We are seeing the last of years of granny and she might not see this, and they have done this to us, with so much injustice,” said Alfonso.
Solomon said the matter had taken a toll on her health and that she was warned she could have a stroke.
“I said I will continue to stand up and I know there is a God above me and that God will give me strength.
“I will not give up. I want to go back to the land where I laboured on. I do not want a house or financial compensation, I want our land.”
Solomon has a sister, Bernus Kallis, 75, who is also waiting like her.
Portfolio committee chairperson Mangaqa Albert Mncwango said they empathised with the family and would investigate.
“We do want to follow up on this matter with the chief land claims commissioner to find out exactly what happened, and I ask, if there is any documentation in your possession (that you) hand it over.”
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za