Slave descendants in Elim battle for church-owned land

Residents of the Moravian mission station town of Elim, Western Cape. Elim was the first place in South Africa where slaves were freed and their descendants are now fighting for land ownership. FilePicture: Juhan Kuus

In February Elimers will present a proposal to the Moravian church council, with different land ownership possibilities, such as buying or leasing the 7,500 hectares they call home from the church. President and ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018 launched a process to change the constitution to make explicit provision for the redistribution of land without pay to address high levels of inequality.

Yet Elimers are cautious about challenging the traditional role the Moravian church, which originated in Bohemia and Moravia in what is the present-day Czech Republic, has played in the town.In the final year of school, Elimers undertake “citizenship classes” set by the church. The first pioneering missionary, Georg Schmidt, was sent by the Moravian church to what was then the Cape Colony in 1737, research has shown.

But one of the problems the landless Elimers face is that they cannot get loans for starting a business, said Pierre Apollis, the chairperson of the Overseers Council.

The perfect case for EWC in its current form.

Go buy land, you are allowed to.

Nonsense,land has nothing to do with bad business;happens everyday;Modern business doNOT own land,they rent;From PickNPay's business plan:'We do retail,not landownership',so they rent;This is an insult to victims of slavery,which wasnt just evil for preventing the sale of flowers

Such an interesting story about the history of Elim.👌

South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Property funds face risk if they choose to delistStruggling real-estate groups may want to leave the JSE as they battle to deliver dividends
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »

Suspect arrested in connection with murder of North West reverend“Since the incident was reported, the police have been working around the clock and managed to arrest the suspect on Wednesday night, 15 January 2020, two days after the incident was reported.”
Source: TimesLIVE - 🏆 28. / 59 Read more »

Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »

Parents call on NSFAS to relook processesThe NSFAS receives thousands of applications every year, but parents and students say they're battling with several issues. My sons applied for NSFAS and to date the status says 'assessing funding eligibility'.I'm a nurse who started a prvate practice.I was honest to say I'm self employed but not making enough to provide 4 their education let alone payin me salary. I provided bank statements as prove.
Source: eNCA - 🏆 49. / 51 Read more »

Modi’s party is not impressed with Bezos-owned Washington PostThe chief of BJP’s foreign affairs department says there are ‘a lot of problems’ with the newspaper’s coverage of India
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »

Fed-up after 20 years on a waiting list, gogo builds her own houseGloria Matebe collected the wood to build her new home from a nearby dumpsite. Shame, I actually feel sorry for the granny. But she had to take initiative, as all the promises were made and it was not delivered 🙏😱😡😡😡 All those wasted ANC votes. BigDaddyDees89 Good job lady
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »