Deputy Speaker, yesterday I was approached by some leaders of the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa in Durban. They said that they were very upset by letters they had received from the eThekwini Municipality informing them that the land they had occupied for almost 40 years was now going to be sold. They allege that the treatment they are getting from the democratic government they voted for is worse than the treatment they got from the apartheid government. What they want to know is what will happen to their church if they cannot afford the amounts that are going to be asked.
The Presbyterian Church situated at Ndabeni Street in Langa here in Cape Town has raised a similar concern. They have been told by the Cape Town Municipality that the land on which their church was built in 1935 is now private land. When they asked for how long the land had belonged to a private owner, they were told that it was since 1994.
What the ACDP would like know, and what this church group would also like to know, is why the municipality did not advise them of their intention to sell the land more than 20 years ago and why they decided to sell it behind their backs. Considering that they have been using this private property since 1994, why were they not advised of this fact before now? This lack of transparency and honesty by some municipalities is of great concern to many church leaders and requires urgent attention and intervention by the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform. Thank you. [Time expired.]