Pretoria - One of the most successful land restitution projects, owned by Amangcolosi Community Trust in KwaZulu-Natal, has handed over five new classrooms worth more than R1 million to Dulumbe Primary School.
From 2005, the pupils had been learning under difficult conditions in a two-roomed building at a farm after moving from a mud roundavel, where some learners were taught under the trees.
In 2007, the Department of Education built two classrooms for the school with 180 learners this academic year, and fenced the area. The Amangcolosi Community Trust has now added five more modern classrooms.
The Trust has not only built classrooms for the school, but has also handed over water projects, cattle dips and electricity project to the community.
The Trust is made up of 376 claimants from the Amangcolosi community in Kranskop, which successfully claimed the restoration of land rights from over 12 independently owned. In July 2005, the claimants officially received part of their land, which was approximately 8 000 hectares.
The Trust started by opening a company called Ithuba Agriculture, which is tasked with running the farms that belong to the Trust as business entities.
Chairperson of the Trust Alfred Xulu has praised the community for working tiresly on the farms as Ithuba has created jobs for more than 400 people from the community.
The projects include timber, sugarcane, white maize, chillies and leather fern. Ithuba has supply agreements for the above yields with Gledhow Sugar Mill, Umkhumbi Maize Mill and NCT Forestry Cooperative etc.
