By Celani Sikhakhane
Former Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mondli Zuma has distanced himself from a multi-million rand land dispute in Thornville, just outside Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.
A family that says it owns the land upon which 70 houses were built is threatening to destroy the homes, worth millions of rands, if it does not receive a settlement fee of R11-million.
The residents were told that the land belonged to General Zuma when it was actually owned by an Indian family.
Zuma told Scrolla.Africa that he was in fact also a victim because he had bought a plot in the area which he later sold. He said he bought the plot in Thornville for R65,000 but later lost interest in building a house in the area after the land dispute emerged.
“I then sold that plot to my brother-in-law. So I was shocked when I saw reports that I am the one who sold that land to those 70 households. This is quite depressing and misleading because it has put my family in danger.
“As I am talking to you there are people who came from Thornville and threatened to burn my family home in Pietermaritzburg if their houses are demolished. This is crazy because I never sold land to anyone except the plot to my brother-in-law,” said Zuma.
He said he bought a plot in Thornville because of the hype from other police officers who were buying plots of land from that area; and denied being related to the Zuma family that is now selling plots in the area.
“I don’t own any land in Thornville. These people in Thornville know that Zuma guy who sold plots to them and they must face him without putting my name to something I don’t know about,” he said.
The community of Thornville has received a communique from the police that an eviction letter has been approved and that their homes will be demolished, after the Indian family that claims to own the land was granted a court order to demolish the 70 houses allegedly built illegally on the land.
Pictured above: Former Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mondli Zuma on the land dispute outside Pietermaritzburg.
Image source: X
