Traditional activists have warned that the land question cannot be solved through legal means but requires deeper societal introspection.
Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) Minister Dean Macpherson on Tuesday revealed a plan to deal with a large section of hijacked state land in the Western Cape.
The occupants are self-described members of the Khoisan community who occupied the land used by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) in mid-2020.
The Background
Knoflokskraal is located in the Elgin Valley between Grabouw and Botsrivier along the N2, roughly 80km from Cape Town.
Owned by DPWI and the DFFE, it covers roughly 1,800 hectares and is meant for government forestry purposes.
A parliamentary portfolio committee resolved in November 2022 that the then 4,000 occupants should be allowed to stay on condition that the community did not expand.
Macpherson stated the community now receives free basic services and electricity worth roughly R11 million per year.
He noted a December 2025 “social compact agreement” had not been honoured and estimated the population to have grown to between 15,000 and 20,000.
Macpherson’s Plan
Macpherson is personally leading the retaking of Knoflokskraal under a “Ministerial Priority Project” .
The plan features three aspects: “containment, social facilitation and direct community engagement.”
The government will map the area, implement a containment strategy, develop a community profile, identify leadership structures, and assess historical claims.
“We must remain faithful to the constitution. We will act lawfully. We will act carefully. We will act on the basis of evidence. We will act in a way that is fair, transparent and defensible. But we will act,” Macpherson concluded.
The Allegations
Macpherson alleged the community was rife with crime and drug abuse and that Knoflokskraal was used for the storage and distribution of drugs and guns.
“It is the creation of a parallel, unlawful system that benefits those who control it, not those who are drawn into it. This is the very definition of a criminal syndicate.”
He also noted allegations that municipal staff and police may have been bribed or compromised.
The Activists’ Response
Traditional and cultural activists, Soil of Africa , opposed Macpherson’s stance as it did not address the “lived reality of dispossession” experienced by indigenous peoples.
King Bongani Ramontja , President of Soil of Africa, told The Citizen: “What is unfolding at Knoflokskraal is not just a legal matter; it is a direct reflection of a state that has delayed confronting the root of land injustice.”
“Land in South Africa is not simply about title deeds, it is about identity, dignity, and historical restoration. Any process that does not begin with a full and transparent account of original land ownership is fundamentally flawed.”
He dismissed Macpherson’s plan, believing the solution could only be achieved through a “functional partnership” with traditional leadership.
“We reject a narrow law and order approach to a deeply historical issue. You cannot police away a land question. You resolve it through courage, truth, structured engagement, and constitutional alignment.”
The Bottom Line
Macpherson says: contain, profile, assess, act lawfully. Activists say: you cannot police away a land question.
The state wants order. The community wants justice. And the land remains at the centre of it all.
