



Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini is facing court action, in a bid to stop him from forcing occupiers of land under the Ingonyama Trust to pay rent.

The Ingonyama Trust and its board have allegedly begun cancelling permission-to-occupy agreements, forcing residents to enter into 40-year lease agreements.

READ: Understanding The Ingonyama Trust: Power and Land in rural South Africa

Residents are now being forced to pay rent of between R1 500 and R7 000 per month.

This is according to court papers filed by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), the Rural Women’s Movement, and individuals occupying land under the trust.

Casac's Lawson Naidoo says the move by the Trust severely weakens the rights of occupants of the land.

The Ingonyama Trust holds that land in Trusts, it holds it for the beneficiaries who are communities and people who live on that land. Lawson Naidoo, Executive Secretary Cosac

It is a weakening of their rights that has gone unchecked despite the attempts by parliament to try and instruct the Ingonyama Trust not to proceed with the so-called conversion project. Lawson Naidoo, Executive Secretary Cosac

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