The Dwesa-Cwebe Land Trust

This site provides information on the Dwesa-Cwebe Land Trust. The Trust is the legal owner of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and represents the seven communities surrounding the reserve. The Trust is also the coordinating body for development and research activities in the Dwesa-Cwebe region. All prospective investors, non-governmental organizations, researchers, and others planning to work in the region are requested and expected to coordinate their activities with the Dwesa-Cwebe Land Trust.

Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve surrounds the Mbashe River as it meets the Indian Ocean, on the southeast coast of South Africa. The reserve spans approximately 18 km of coastline, and extends inward for three to five km, encompassing over 5,700 ha. It is an area of stunning natural beauty, ideal for ecotourism development.


Local residents pointing out their ancestral homesteads within the Nature Reserve to a representative of the Land Claims Commission

 The Dwesa-Cwebe Land Trust was created during local residents' struggle for land. Between the 1890s and the 1930s, the ancestors of current residents were forcibly removed from the Dwesa and Cwebe Forests; in the early 1980s they were fenced out, losing all access to natural resources. Beginning in the early 1990s, the residents of the communities adjoining the Nature Reserve began a struggle for land restitution under South Africa's Land Restitution policy. In 2001, they succeeded in their land claim and were awarded ownership of the Nature Reserve.
The Trust is the legal owner of the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve, including the Haven Hotel and holiday cottages in the Cwebe section of the reserve and the guest houses in the Dwesa section of the reserve. The Trust also represents the communities adjoining the reserve: Ntubeni, Mpume, Ngoma, Lurwayizo, Mendwane, Hobeni and Cwebe. The land of these commuities is held under Communal Property Associations (CPAs) created during the land claim process.


Ploughing in Hobeni CPA land at the Mbashe River
haven hotel
Aerial view of the Haven Hotel		 The Trust works in collaboration with the Amathole District Council, the Eastern Cape Parks Board, and local Traditional Authorities to manage the reserve and tourism facilities, and to coordinate development and research activities in the reserve and the adjoining communities.

The current office holders of the Trust (as of August 2010) are:

President Templeton Mbola 083 659 8596
Vice President Kuzile Juza 072 935 4916
Treasurer Mnguni Nguqu  
Administrator Nandipha Bobi  
Secretary Nomandla Ngawa  
Deputy Secretary Mpindeli Tyityi 083 216 6495

 

 

 


The Trust does not currently have e-mail access but Trustees may be reached at the numbers above.