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The community claiming the military buffer between South Africa's Limpopo province and Zimbabwe, will have to rent out a portion of the land to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

The Gumbu community, made up of seven clans from the Gumbu, Sigonde, Bend Mutale, Tshenzhelani, Masisi, Tshikuyu and Mutele areas, lodged a claim on the 27 000 hectare Madimbo Corridor along the Limpopo River in 1997.

Their claim was validated in 2004, but they have not yet occupied the land.

The claimants were impatient, but proper measures had to be taken because the land under claim was along an international border, Limpopo Land Claims Commissioner Mashile Mokono said.

"A portion of this land will have to remain in use by the SANDF. The SANDF and the public works department will have to decide which one of them will pay the lease to the community," Mr Mokono said.

He said the community wanted to use the land now, but a lot of work still had to be done, like subdividing and erecting a fence to control the spread of foot and mouth disease across the border.

Chairman of the Gumbu Land Claim Committee Nelson Masikwa said the SANDF wanted to use 2 500 hectares of the land, which he said was too big.

"We want the SANDF to leave so that we can go on making a living. We understand the land has minerals such as diamonds, which we can mine and make a living for ourselves," Masikwa said.

"We also need to have access to the part where we can get water for our livestock from the Limpopo River."

The community was removed from the land in the 1960s when it was used as a buffer zone to counter the movements of liberation fighters from South Africa to Zimbabwe.

The community rejected offers from the government to buy them alternative land. They were the first community in the country to protest against the slow pace of land reform and invaded the land in 1999 with the help of land rights NGO, Nkuzi Development Association.