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Article: A better life.(News)
- Article from:
- Cape Argus (South Africa)
- Article date:
- October 10, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Independent News & Media PLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Now here's something to celebrate: yesterday an impoverished Nama community in the Northern Cape won their long-running battle to regain land taken from them by British colonialists 80 years ago.
"I am overwhelmed with joy. I can't hold back my tears," said community leader Willem Diergaardt after the Lands Claim Court ruled that 194 600 hectares along the Namaqualand coast will be handed to the community.
The land in the Richtersveld includes 84 000 diamond-rich hectares, for which the community first lodged a claim in 1998.
Ironically, the application was opposed by the state. The community had been forced out after mineral rights were awarded ...