Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Tim Mpakathe and Afrikaans soundbite by Cllr Dewald Hattingh.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mantsopa Local Municipality halts the leasing and repurposing of land earmarked for human settlement in Tweespruit, ensuring that this land remains reserved for its original purpose: providing much-needed housing for residents.
We reject the proposal by Mayor Mamsie Tsoene to lease land earmarked for human settlement in Tweespruit for farming purposes.
This comes after intense pressure from the Thaba Phachoa residents, who are demanding that the lease agreement for land portion 688 Bergplaas be nullified and that the land claim process be finalised in terms of the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act of 1998.
On 17 April 2025, during a council meeting at the Excelsior ANC-led municipality, a variety of land applications were brought to the council for business and farming purposes. We raised concerns that the municipality’s land-leasing process is not in line with its policies and legislation.
Despite the advice we provided to the council, the ANC majority approved a 24-year lease agreement with Frans Farming Pty (Ltd) for the land portion 688 Bergplaas.
On 04 December 2025, this matter was brought back to the council to rescind the lease agreement between the Mantsopa Local Municipality and Frans Farming Pty (Ltd).
It was during this meeting that the Mayor proposed using the land the Provincial government bought for the municipality in Tweespruit for a new township as an alternative to the failed lease agreement.
It is deplorable that the mayor wants to appease her cronies by denying residents of Tweespruit the opportunity to have residential sites.