1. The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development did not mislead Parliament but was reporting the status as it was at that point in time. The Commission’s business process is complex and can be delayed by multiple factors some internal and others external. the Payment of financial compensation to claimants in phases has been identified as a risk for fraud and possible double payment and as a result, the Policy was amended to discontinue the practice. This meant that instead of paying this claim in phases village by village the Commission in the Eastern Cape had to conduct verification and screening to include all the villages so that the payment can occur at the same time. This automatically meant that there would be a delay, which was communicated to the claimant community.
(2)(a) The claim is targeted for settlement in the Third Quarter of 2023/24 financial year on condition that none of the beneficiaries who have adopted the verification interdict the process because of some disagreement of the payment to be made.
(b)(i) Once the settlement process has been finalized and verification adopted and all the payment lists have been prepared, all beneficiaries having submitted all the relevant documents. Then the Commission will commence with the payment process and the payment will be affected within 90 working days after the signing of the distribution agreement with the individual households.
(ii) The total monetary value of the claim will be based on the financial compensation policy, which allows for payment based on the of Standard Settlement Offer, which is R405 776, per house for the loss of the right in land and improvement.
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