The Land Claims Commission is taking significant strides in speeding up the land restitution process and communities to whom land has been restored are making concerted efforts to make sure that the land is well utilised.

This was evidenced yesterday at the signing of a landmark deal between land claimants and private investors in the Bushbuckridge region of Mpumalanga.

The Sandford Trust, which was set up to represent the Mapulana tribe of Hazyview, entered into partnership with hotel company the Hollow Group to develop land successfully claimed by the trust in 2003.

The partnership is long-term, lasting 51 years, with the Sandford Trust owning 49% and the Hollow Group owning 51%.

"This is a milestone for the trust. Without reserves and little educational background, we have managed to come this far," said Riebs Khoza, secretary of the Sandford Community Trust.

Tembi Guest Lodge was part of the successful land claim, but after the transfer to Sandford it fell into disrepair due to lack of capital, resources and local skills to run it, something that has happened in many land restitution cases throughout the country.

Chief Land Claims Commissioner Tozi Gwanya told BuaNews that the commission was aware of the shortage of skills among the beneficiaries of the restitution programme, adding that settlement support units were engaging private and public partners to come aboard and support new owners to use their land optimally.

The Sandford Trust's partnership with the Hollow Group will see the redevelopment, upgrading, expansion and rebranding of the Tembi Guest Lodge, which will be known as the Hazyview Hollow Convention Centre and Hotel.

The Hollow Group will provide the expertise, management and access to capital in exchange for its share of the assets. At least R22-million is being ploughed into the project.

The Hollow Group's Jack Brotherton said: "I am committed to this arrangement and confident that it will work out well for everyone. I look forward to it becoming a model that will be followed in similar situations elsewhere."

The development will include the construction of a 300-delegate convention centre, an 80-bed hotel, a restaurant and a hotel training facility which will be run on site by the Johannesburg University.

The deal will create more than 120 permanent jobs, along with numerous small business opportunities for the community.

The recipe for the deal's success, said Khoza, is that all the stakeholders have a vested interest in the growth of the area.

"We are now one group. Today we became a family and we are not just doing this for ourselves, but for our children and their children," he said.

Daily Dispatch