Has anyone read "The Great South African Land Scandal"??

#1

gsvol

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#1
Here is my cliff notes version with the complete foreword and excerpts from each chapter:

oops; got this message; The text that you have entered is too long (297588 characters). Please shorten it to 10000 characters long.

Soo, I'll include just the foreword and then add the chapters one or two at a time later if there is any interest. There is a link to the whole book under the title.



THE GREAT SOUTH AFRICAN LAND SCANDAL
The Great South African Land Scandal

FOREWORD (Part I of II parts)

This book cried out to be written.

Stories about the collapse of farms
handed over to emerging farmers under
the government’s land reform program
have circulated for some time. But over
the last two years, the desecration of
some of South Africa’s productive farmland
has increased to such an extent that land
is being taken out of production at an
alarming rate.

The ominous element in the picture is:
where will it end? Now that the government
has given itself powers to expropriate
land at will, for whatever purpose, will
the end of this destruction ever be in sight?

Concerned farmers are supporting the
publication of this book. They see first
hand every day the results of the government’s
land restitution program. Occasionally one
reads about these catastrophes in newspapers.
Some television actuality programs feature
farms which have been destroyed after a
handover. But there appears to have been
no concerted effort by anyone to actually
investigate the outcome of these transactions,
both for the benefit of the public which paid
for the land, and in light of the broader
problem of decreasing food production in the
country.

In most cases, at least as far as newspapers
are concerned, handovers are depicted with
exuberance by reporters. Pictures of people
toyi-toying after receiving title deeds to
their ancestral land are complemented by
gratuitous individual stories of people
returning to “the land of their birth”. In
many instances, this is not the case. In any
event, why haven’t questions been asked one
or two years down the line about what became
of this joyous transfer? Some follow ups occur,
but not many. And they are journalists’ probes,
not government assessments.

This is not a scientific book in the sense
that every single land claim transaction has
been investigated. Indeed, we have just started.
Perhaps this book should be called Volume One.
There appear to be hundreds of examples of farm
collapses after restitution. We didn’t have the
resources to hire an army of researchers to search
and account for every farm which has been lost
to production, or has been turned into a squatter
camp.

But we have garnered enough evidence, at least
as a start, to realize that there is a very
ominous and ultimately calamitous trend afoot
in South Africa, the results of which could
seriously undermine food production.

Our researchers were in some instances part time.
But they were dedicated and had the advantage of
knowing the South African agricultural sector well.
Opening one door led to other doors, and a picture
emerged which differed little from one end of
South Africa to the other. There were no examples
found where the conditions existing on the farm
at the time of transfer had either been maintained
or improved, without the help of outsiders. In some
instances, those to whom the farm had belonged
helped the new owners. Other examples revealed
white managers brought in quietly after production
started to wobble.

In many cases, the beneficiaries were left to
their own devices. Some recipients really wanted
to farm but received little or no assistance.
In other situations, a committee representing
“the tribe” simply took over the farm, awarding
themselves large salaries while carrying on with
their lives somewhere else. The workers “ran”
the farm until something broke, then the rot set
in. Operating capital simply disappeared on
salaries, 4 x 4 vehicles and travel expenses,
with workers eventually demonstrating in a nearby
town for back salaries.

One researcher was shot at by an angry chief,
while another was told he must make written
application to visit a ailed land reform farm
which, in reality, belongs to the taxpayers.
He went anyway. There was nobody at the gate,
and a detailed examination was made of the farm
without anyone even asking who he was!

This is not a definitive history of who is
ultimately entitled to what land in South
Africa. There are dozens of academic sources
where the origins of land ownership can be
quoted, and counter-argued. This book is
concerned about agricultural production in
the last nation in Africa which is self-
sufficient in food. We don’t want another
Zimbabwe. If 35 000 commercial farmers produce
enough food for the people of Southern Africa,
why take their farms?

We discovered a number of outrageous land
claims – some based on hearsay, others which
overlapped as different tribal warlords fought
for the same piece of turf. Some claims were
simply lies, while others claimed ground for
which they had already been compensated. The
existence of graves was another reason for
land claims.

An important heritage site has been claimed,
not by people whose tribal forefathers lived
on the ground, but by people whose forefathers
were taken in by the missionaries who created
the site, to escape warring tribal chiefs.
Through the grace and charity of these
missionaries, they were allowed to stay and
their children were born at the mission. Now
their descendants are claiming the heritage
site!

Under what duress do South African farmers
operate? They pay taxes for security, yet
they conduct their own policing. Many operate
in the most violent environment - outside of
a war - in the world.

We examine how land claims have affected
operating farmers, why they can’t sell, or
obtain a bank loan. Many have been driven
off their farms by invaders and intimidation.
They have turned the key on a lifetime of work.
Others have been threatened with death. More
than 1 500 have been brutally murdered since
1994, in many instances without anything being
stolen.
 
#2
#2
Part II:

Stock and crop theft are endemic. Aged farmers
sit out all night against a tree, shotgun cocked,
to catch the corn thieves. Others go into dangerous
locations to find their stolen stock because police
assistance is simply not available. Farmers pay
handsomely for private security, but those supposed
to be guarding their property are themselves
intimidated and flee..

South Africa can do without its advertising
agencies and retail boutiques and horse racing,
but it cannot do without its farmers. If matters
continue as they are, and productive farms are
handed over to people who cannot farm and who do
not want to farm, then we are on the Zimbabwe
slippery slope. South African farmers are taxed
to the hilt. They have high input costs, and they
receive very little in the way of relief from the
government. They are harassed by human rights
investigators, and they are the subject of vicious
propaganda.

In a covert way, it appears the SA government
has come to realize that handing over a farm
to subsistence farmers is a failure, but they
are slow to admit this. Instead, they quietly
bring in managers and consultants who rectify
– if possible – the damage done, and the
patched-up project is again given to the same
beneficiaries. A further stratagem is to bring
in “mentors” who assist black farmers on a daily
basis, checking everything and in effect running
the farm. There is also the new lease-back policy.
But there are inherent problems with these policies.
Why not let those who can farm continue to produce
the food to feed the millions in Southern Africa?

There are many black farmers who have made a
success of ventures, and they are lauded for
their hard work, and for the risks they have
taken. Neighbouring white farmers are only too
happy to assist. But some black farmers obtained
loans from the Land Bank, then used their newly-
acquired farms as taxi repair depots.

There are alarming signs that no commercial
farm is safe in South Africa. At one meeting
between land claimants and commercial farmers,
the claimants told the farmers “Just give us
your title deeds. Then you can work for us”.
What is really sought by many claimants is a
productive farm which someone else will run
so that a large salary and profits can be taken
from the operation without too much effort.

Some farmers could not talk to us for fear of
reprisals. One farmer was scared to death. His
farm is next to a huge squatter camp. He told
us he had to keep quiet “so I can at least get
something for my farm from the Department of
Land Affairs”. His farm contains a R1 million
dairy operation, but nobody wants to buy his
farm. He is trying to get whatever price he
can from the government. It is too dangerous
for him to stay on the property. He has already
moved his family to town, and appointed a manager.

In one area of KwaZulu Natal, the farming
community has been reduced from 56 to 14.
In another part of the province, trenches
have been dug to stop stock theft. Cruelty
to farm animals turns one’s stomach. Some
farmers have to resort to witchcraft to find
their cattle. Farmer Piet de Jager of Levubu
told an agricultural magazine he wouldn’t give
up his farm. He’d worked for the farm all his
life, he was 69, and “what will I do with my
life without my farm?” Two weeks after the
published interview, he was shot to death in
his garden, a few metres from his house, his
wife and his grandchildren. Nothing was stolen.

This book is not the beginning. The story
started many years ago. I grew up on a cattle
ranch on the border of Botswana and South Africa.
When my father’s farm was expropriated by the
old National Party government under the homelands
scheme, he died of a stroke. I submitted a claim
for the return of this farm in November 1998 but
have heard nothing from the government. To date,
more than 900 land claims have been submitted to
the government by whites and Indians, people
whose farms were taken by the previous government.

By highlighting in a small way the heritage
which the white farming sector brought to South
Africa, we in no way wish to ignore the many black,
coloured and Indian farmers who have also struggled,
who are also beset with stock and crop theft,
intimidation and, at times, assaults. Few
acknowledge the contribution to this country of
its small band of commercial farmers of all races,
and we believe it’s time to tell their story. And
why not? Everybody else’s story has been told!

Cry the beloved country indeed! If many blacks
cannot make it as commercial farmers, it is well
to remember that most whites are not farmers either.
Farming is a highly specialized, risky business.
One simply cannot “resign” from farming and get
another job. It is a holistic profession, and the
land is an emotive element in the equation.

Most of us are “landless”, in the literal sense
of the word. The 12% of arable land in this
country is very fragile. South Africa is not a
farming friendly country. Productive farmland has
been built up over many years and must not be
destroyed with impunity. We believe jobs, not
land, are what people want. They need a roof
over their head, and education for their children.

Destroying good farms is a lose-lose situation,
for all of us.

This book is a joint effort between myself and
our team of researchers. It will be sent all
over the world. South Africans should read it
with concern. They take so much for granted -
the full supermarkets, the mountains of fruit
and vegetables, the steaks, the chops, the
boerewors (literally, the ‘Boer sausage’ - the
staple sausage in South Africa.) All of this
comes from less than .01% of our population –
35 000 farmers who provide for South Africa’s
45 million people. South Africans must resist
the senseless transfer of land for ideological
reasons.

Dr. Philip du Toit, South Africa, 25 December 2003.
 
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#3
excerpts Chapter I: (will take two posts)

Chapter I THE LETSITELE VALLEY,

Paradise is where the devil does his damnedest.

“Don’t even talk about logic in this part of the world”.

So declared pioneer farmer Mike Amm as we walked
towards his small holding high in the mountains outside Tzaneen. He was one of seven farmers who sold their farms in this beautiful valley to the Department of Land Affairs (DLA) for land restitution purposes.

Over the past two years, he has observed with dismay how the farms he and his family spent their lifetimes building up, have crumbled and decayed to the point where they have been placed under judicial management.

The word “management” is something of a misnomer, as nothing is happening on these farms. One of Amm’s farms, Murlebrook, was a prime producer of avocados, mangoes, paw paws, bananas, citrus fruits and macadamia nuts.

Amm shows us his large file on the debacle he has chronicled on the demise of his family farm. The file contains the history of the farm and how it was claimed. He wants to get the message out to what he feels is an uncaring South Africa. “Tell South Africa what is happening to agriculture in this country,” he pleads. His letters, exhortations and suggestions to the new owners are all there - offers to assist with business plans, or any assistance the new owners might want - are open-heartedly offered by a man who cares about South Africa and the country’s agricultural production. He is deeply worried about agriculture’s end game.

Nothing would have pleased this farmer more than to have helped keep Murlebrook alive, even if he didn’t own the farm any more. But his endeavours were ignored. Indeed, he and his fellow farmers in the area were told in no uncertain terms that the new owners would “go it alone”.

A report in the local Letaba Herald of February 2001 shows the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms. Thoko Didiza, signing the R43 million land agreement for the purchase of the Letsitele Valley farms, while Limpopo MEC for Agriculture and Land Administration, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, looks on.

Three thousand people attended the taxpayer-funded shindig which followed the signing. The celebrations were about the restitution of 1 400 ha of land in the valley (the seven commercial farms) to the Mamathola tribe.

The newspaper report declares that “in terms of the government’s Land Restitution Act, the Mamathola had successfully claimed the land on the grounds that the 13 farms involved had formerly belonged to their ancestors but were taken over by white settlers. (Yes, “settlers” was the word used for white South African citizens whose ancestors came to South Africa around the same time as American citizens’ ancestors arrived in North America).

The Limpopo MEC for Agriculture Dr. Motsoaledi then stated it was critical that “whites must adapt to the wind of change or die. No one will kill them but if they cannot adapt they will just cease to live,” he remarked. He then went on to say the government had established an Agriculture College to train those who want to run farms.

Speaking on behalf of the departing white owners, Mrs. Maggie Baleta said it was a disappointing experience for them to leave farms on which some of them had lived and worked for 43 years. She said these farms generated a turnover in excess of R15 million a year and that “the tribe would need good planning and dedication to ensure that they remained economically viable for all”.

She said the farmers were willing to help the tribe manage the resettlement of farms and to work together for the economic development of the area.

In reply, the claimants’ committee chairman Mr. Chiko Letsoalo expressed confidence in their ability to run the farms on their own without assistance from previous white owners.

“We are surprised about stories that we or the government would enter into partnership with the current owners so as not to lose the benefit of their expertise. We have already sent people to agricultural colleges to learn more about farming. We will run these farms through our own expertise”, he declared.

He said the tribe would “restructure” the farming operations. His tribe were given R4,5 million as operating capital.

The arrogance of this group of people is, in hindsight, only exceeded by their ignorance and incompetence. Their “going it alone” has resulted in the complete collapse of these farms, while Ms. Didiza, to all intents and purposes, has remained silent about her colossal failure in this regard.

Let us examine this land claim so that South Africa’s taxpayers, who paid for this land and donated the operating capital, can examine the processes of the Department of Land Affairs (DLA) and judge for themselves. Let it be said here that the Letsitele experience has occurred right throughout South Africa, with few variations. Some of the disasters are monumental, others not so grand but ominous nonetheless, because they expose a critical flaw in South Africa’s land “reform” process, a process which seems to have been ignored by those organizations we thought would have been the first to examine just where this policy would ultimately take South Africa.

At the headwaters of the Letsitele River lay a farm called Mamathola 635 which was also known as Mamathola’s Location, and is marked on old maps. This land measuring approximately 1 500 ha had been allocated to the Mamathola people some years before.

This community worked on neighbouring farms and existed on “slash and burn” subsistence agriculture. It is well known that this type of land use is extremely degrading to the environment. The land had become almost completely denuded through over-grazing and other destructive forms of land use. After even light rainfalls, the Letsitele River would turn a red colour from the soil-eroded areas on Mamathola 635. Aerial photographs of that period bear witness to this fact.

During the 1940’s, the government under the United Party’s Jan Smuts was alerted to this deteriorating situation and was requested to take action. For years debate raged in Parliament regarding this issue. And all the while the situation worsened.

Around 1956, the government decided to move the community from Mamathola’s location to two farms in the Trichardtsdal area. The farms “Metz” and “Enable” totaling approximately 7 000 ha were allocated to the tribe. Most of the people moved willingly although a few moved with reluctance.

It should be emphasized that the Mamathola community were not moved for political, but for conservation reasons. The community was more than adequately compensated in terms of land area, buildings, social infrastructure, roads, and so forth.

Mamathola 635 was then handed over to the Department of Forestry to rehabilitate the land. This step proved to be timeous and within a few years the land at the headwaters of the Letsitele River started to recover environmentally. Streams became stabilized and began flowing more cleanly and constantly. Eroded areas began slowly to recover vegetatively. But even to this day, the scars caused by the tribe’s destructive practices can still be seen.

Had the government of the day not removed those who were destroying the headwaters of the valley and surrounds (to whit, the Mamathloa tribe), there would be nothing there today upon which they could exist, let alone claim back as a viable concern.

Things changed in the early nineties, according to local people. The unbanning of Nelson Mandela and the cries for land for the landless led to the 1994 and subsequent land legislation after the ANC came to power. The people were promised land and were given the opportunity to claim land from which they felt they had been forcibly removed.

Certain parameters were laid down as to what would constitute a valid claim. For example, if compensation had been paid then a claim against that same land would be invalid. (In the Mamathola land claim case, this was totally ignored, but we will come to that later).

Never in their wildest dreams did farmers in the area we interviewed realize that productive farms would collapse so spectacularly, and that the government would seemingly ignore what farmers believed were logical requests to leave South Africa’s productive farms alone, and utilize other sources of land to grant to the landless.

This thought is echoed throughout South Africa. Why in Heaven’s name hand over a productive farm to those who really don’t want to farm it and, in many instances, to people who firmly believe the operation will continue producing a healthy income without any hard work, risk or capital input?

Why indeed! As Amm declared, logic doesn’t come into it, and this is the dark side of land reform. It is actually not reform. In many cases, it is destruction, and the perils in store for South Africa’s agricultural production cannot be overstated.

In May 2000, a group of valley farmers received a letter from the Land Claims Commission stating that a claim on their portions of the farm Mamathola 609 had been gazetted, and that they were to appear at a meeting in Tzaneen to discuss the issue.

At the meeting the farm owners declared the claim was invalid because there had been no forced removal from Mamathola 609 which lay several kilometers from Mamathola’s location (or 635).

But the chairman of the meeting, Mr. Phogiso Molapo, retorted that the farmers’ argument would carry little weight because the community would claim their cattle would have grazed over the whole area of the Letsitele Valley anyway! Amm declares this statement alone made a mockery of the whole land claims process.
 
#4
#4
I met a few expatriated South Afrikaners in the 1990s. They told some of the most horrific tales I have heard in my lifetime, although I had no way to weigh the veracity of their stories. If what I heard was true, I'd have to opine that those who only lose land are fairly lucky.
 
#5
#5
I wonder what the estimated oil reserves are in south Africa.Their have been published reports of huge oil fields in other locations in Africa.
 
#6
#6
part 2 chapter I:

Further, the land claim forms were full of inaccuracies. The claimants admitted that they had been compensated, but said the new land was “too small”. (They received 7 000 ha to replace 1 500 ha). They said the new farm “was far from their graves” but there were no graves on the original piece of property. They also said they had to build new houses, churches, schools, etc. but these were in fact built for them when they moved, with taxpayers’ money. They also declared they received little compensation for their orange plants, but they were paid one pound a tree. According to people who knew the situation at that time, these trees had been in any case stolen from farmers in the area!

The Amm family left with a heavy heart. Mike and Monica had lived on the farm Murlebrook for 43 years, raised five children and built what they called “a bit of paradise” from nothing. Amm says his type of farming is highly technical and requires 24-hour attention. The Banareng ba ga Letsoalo committee (the name under which the land claims were made) was elected to run the farm on behalf of the tribes. Not one person on this committee had agricultural knowledge or background.

The Banareng ba ga Letsoalo land claim was ostensibly for 1 500 people to return to their original land. As it later turned out, none of these people returned at all. The committee was appointed to represent them, and this committee would “run” the farm on behalf of the tribe. The committee, as it also turned out, didn’t run the farm at all – they had meetings, of course, but most had businesses elsewhere. One was a panel beater from Hammanskraal (he was the treasurer). Another was a teacher, one was a clerk and the other unemployed. The chairman worked in a bookshop and still works for a publisher. He occupied the 4-bedroomed farmhouse. Nobody from the committee was born in the area. Most are believed to come from Pretoria.

This committee awarded themselves over R12 000 a month each, and went through the operating capital of R4,5 million like a hot knife through butter. They called themselves the “management team” but nothing was managed. The labour continued to work the farm until the pumps broke, or a machine broke down. These were not repaired. Then there was no money for spraying, and soon salary payments were in arrears.

This ultimately resulted in the farm workers marching five kilometres to the farm office where they toyi-toyi’d and presented a memorandum of grievances. This was February 2003, just 24 months after the newspaper report where DLA Minister Didiza told the world the beneficiaries of the handover would “go it alone”, and that the project would prove to the world that black farmers were not lazy and that they were indeed capable of running a farm.

Labour grievances included the late payment of salaries, the incompetence of management, no production bonuses, and threats and undermining of workers’ representatives. The manager of the farm committee Ismael Letsoalo said he couldn’t pay salaries because he hadn’t received the “additional funds” he’d requested from the Limpopo Regional Land Claims Commission.

Our researcher and a local farmer requested permission from the judicial manager of the farm to visit Murlebrook. (His role as judicial manager was defined by someone local as “making sure nothing is stolen”.) On their way to the farm, the team was telephonically contacted and told the local Land Claims Commissioner wanted a written application to visit the farm, and that there was no guarantee permission would be granted. As they were on their way anyway, the team continued. On arrival, they simply walked in. The judicial “manager” did not appear while the team inspected the farm, taking photos and talking to a few people who were sitting around at the entrance.

The team found avocado trees dying of thirst. While the farm dam was full, the pipes from the dam were broken - there was apparently no money to fix them. The trees’ leaves had curled up and were sunburnt. It was too late to save those beautiful trees. The mango trees’ spring blossoms were out, but these trees were not watered either. The papayas hung from dry trunks, while grass and weeds grew between the expertly laid out plantation rows.

Said our researcher: “It was criminal to see such waste, such desolation. Three state-of-the-art packing sheds were empty, loose crates lying about. There was not a soul to be seen. Electricity had been cut off so the cool rooms didn’t work. We left and moved to the next farm. Nobody stopped us as we drove across a stream (yes, this was a farm where a river ran through it!), but the stream was polluted with plastic bags, pieces of rusting equipment, rubble. Desolation had set in here too. The farmhouse looked forlorn and a cultivated garden had disappeared into weeds and sparse long grass.

We came to a packing shed. A black gentleman was at the gate and we asked for the farmer, the owner. Oh, you mean Mr. Mtetwa (not his real name!). He’s not here. He doesn’t live here. He lives in town. Then what happens here, we asked. Well, we’ve still got some bananas, the watchman declared. But they’re small. They’re for the bakkie (Afrikaans for a pick-up vehicle) trade.

We’d learnt what to look for in neglected banana plantations, the un-pruned, uncared-for trees. They are left to sprout many smaller shoots which grow from the trunk, and smaller bananas result. The bunches were not covered with plastic to protect them from the burning sun.

We couldn’t help noticing the difference between these pigmy fruits and the large bananas which Gauteng consumers paid R1 59 per kilo for in late 2003. Each tree is pruned, and the bunches are covered with blue plastic bags which hold in the moisture while deflecting the suns’ burning rays.

These beautiful plantations roll on and on for kilometers right throughout the sub-tropical and lowveld areas of South Africa, and one wonders at the mentality of a government whose policies would destroy this immaculate farming and replace it with subsistence “bakkie trade” production.

As we drove through this once beautiful farm, we came upon neglected macadamia groves. Thousands and thousands of macadamia nuts lay under the trees, unharvested. These are the most expensive nuts on the market: South Africa’s macadamia export production goes mainly to the United States where consumers can afford them. In South Africa, they are priced at R110,00 a kilo.

The trees had not been pruned and the ground underneath had not been cleared. Further on, a citrus orchard’s trees gasped for water in the searing heat. These “ghost farms” are appearing all over South Africa.

Arrogance and ignorance are a lethal concoction. When people don’t know what they don’t know, the results are catastrophic. Soon after the 2001 takeover of the Letsitele farms, the general secretary of the farm’s committee admitted that “one of the big problems in taking over these farms was that the previous owners tended to be managers as well, and that left a management gap that we are still trying to fill.” However, he continued, “we have sent people to agricultural college to learn more about farming and we are confident in our ability to run these farms on our own”.

Did Minister Didiza know about this paucity of knowledge, experience and management before she handed over taxpayer-funded farms? If she didn’t, why didn’t she find out? Why didn’t she at least check up on the progress of the management committee? After all, this was funded with public money. And what about the production loss to the country?

Two years later, this same secretary complained that the government didn’t assist them with a business plan and a training program. (But a business plan had been set up, although not utilized.) He complained that the government should have sent them Agricultural Extension Officers (AEO). From the time of the handover, only three “managers” of the original committee were left, the whole R4,5 million operating capital had disappeared, the labourers only received R310,00 per month (what about the minimum wages which the government insists all commercial farmers should pay their staff?), while the last of the mangoes were so diseased they had to be thrown away. The farm’s previous owner’s fertilizer and spray programs were highly effective, but no spraying had taken place because of mismanagement.

The farming equipment which had been handed over in pristine condition was virtually unusable, but the R12 000 a month salaries were still taken until the farm operation was placed under judicial management!

An arboretum of more than 200 indigenous trees – each individually marked – was painstakingly created by Monica Amm on the family farm. Called the Matumi Botanical Garden, the trees and an accompanying nursery attracted visitors from all over the world.
 
#7
#7
Chapter I part 3, end.

The Amms called a meeting in June 2001 at which members of the new farm management committee and people from the Limpopo departments of Environment and Agriculture were present. The meeting was to discuss the continuance of the arboretum as an eco-tourism project, and to give the meeting the assurance that the Amms would do everything in their power to assist in the further development of the nursery as well as the arboretum.

The nursery could produce indigenous trees and medicinal plants, for which a ready market already existed. There was adequate irrigation to maintain the nursery. (The Amms and their family are the only South African members of the International Dendrology Association, while Mike Amm is a well-known and accomplished amateur botanist.)

Everyone was positive and promised to report back. Today the arboretum is dry and neglected, and nobody maintains the nursery which has virtually disappeared. The electric fencing doesn’t work. Needless to say, there was no comeback from the provincial government departments. It is a tragedy that even today, overseas tourists still come to look for the famous arboretum, which is no more.

These farms were among the best in the world. Mike Amm’s farm alone contained 100 000 trees. A dam he built was the biggest in the district. The farms contained sophisticated irrigation equipment, and the thousands of trees were nurtured to world standards. The rainfall average in the area is 1 000 mm per annum. (Consider that the average rainfall in most of South Africa is 464 mm against a world average of 857 mm). Permanent mountain streams run through many of the valley’s properties and the dams are well sited, with gravity irrigation from some. The farm valuer declared in his official valuation that the farms were situated in an area “with abundant water”.

The climate is sub-tropical and frost free with average summer temperatures of 290C and 230C during winter. The soil in the area is predominantly a sandy loam type, very fertile and with excellent drainage capacity. According to a professional valuer, “the Letsitele Valley can be regarded as one of the best farming areas in the country mainly due to climate and soil factors, but also because of the professional way farmers run their businesses”.

(Less than 12% of South Africa’s land is suitable for cultivation. Twenty one percent of the country has a total rainfall of less than 200 mm annually, 48% between 200 mm and 600 mm, while only 31% records more than 600 mm.)

The Amms left a beautiful house they built themselves, a manager’s house, a separate flat, staff quarters, a reservoir, boreholes, irrigation systems, three packing sheds and sophisticated farm equipment. They watched their years of work eroded because of a fallacious land claim, and because the SA government did not even stick to its own rules when granting this claim. More importantly, there had been no follow up programs to ensure that all went well.

It is not as if the government wasn’t warned. The Letaba Herald ran an article in September 2000 expressing grave misgivings about the handover of the valley farms to DLA recipients. The paper said that there were signs that the government’s land reform policy could become a “sword of Damocles” over the country’s agricultural economy. People in the area had seen the disastrous destruction of the Zebediela and other citrus estates after they were given to inexperienced recipients. Millions of rands were lost not only in the price paid to the exiting farmers, but in the huge deficits in export sales, and in the taxes which could have been generated from these productive farms. Now the same thing was about to occur in Letsitele.

The paper continued: “Inexperienced, inadequately funded people who move onto currently white-owned farms could eventually find themselves in a morass of debt, unemployment and the inability to even produce food for themselves at a sustainable rate.” Unfortunately, these premonitions and fears were not repeated in the national press.

The Herald noted that the valley’s “3 000 ha or so of intensive citrus, mango, avocado, banana and papaya orchards bring in tens of millions of rands in foreign currency every year and support a labour force of between 2 000 and 3 000 black workers, plus their families. Now its continued existence as a world-recognized agricultural gem is being threatened by separate, even conflicting, Land Restitution Act claims on white-owned farms in the valley. It’s a recipe for shambles. There are only going to be losers, not winners.”

Asked what would be the most likely scenario if the farms were handed over as going concerns to the claimants, Amm referred to the history of two once-productive farms in the valley which had been bought by the old homeland Lebowa government for tribal occupation.

One became derelict and was then leased to a white farmer who lived well off it for 20 years and employed 400 people. In 1999, his lease expired and he left, leaving his farm improvements intact.

Just one year later, the farm has sank back to its original dilapidated state. Squatters moved in, fences torn down and irrigation piping was stolen. The mangoes became sick and the trees planted for windbreaks were chopped down for firewood. Four hundred people lost their jobs.

The other was the well-known Rolf Flowers operation which had a capital-intensive infrastructure and employed hundreds of people on its 100 ha. It was purchased from Rolf Flowers by the government in the early nineties (it bordered on one of the traditional lands) and today stands forlorn, with its buildings vandalized and its equipment ransacked.

Everything which could be stolen has already been taken, and nothing is going on. There seems little concern by the powers that be about the waste of taxpayers’ money for this purchase. The only move the government has apparently made is to employ security guards to protect what remains from further vandalization.

Said one farmer we spoke to: “Every single person, black or white, in the Letaba district is dependent in one way or another on agriculture. It should not be allowed to go into decline. In the broader sense, the rich, productive valley could be lost to the South African economy. There will be no winners, only losers!”

How prescient he was. But nobody was listening, least of all the arrogant and the ignorant for whose sins the whole of South Africa must pay.

Now that the government has given itself powers to expropriate property throughout South Africa at will, it needs no fertile imagination to think what will happen to the productive farms upon which Minister Didiza will set her sights. There’s nothing stopping her, except of course a dearth of food in South Africa’s shops, no surplus grain to send to friends across the Limpopo, no taxes from bankrupt and destroyed farms, and no foreign currency to be earned from agricultural exports.

When a government sets out to force through a policy on ideological grounds, without pause to assess what has happened to previous land transfers, then it is criminally responsible for whatever disasters await us in the future.
 
#8
#8
Copyright_HtmlSplash_design.jpg
 
#9
#9
I met a few expatriated South Afrikaners in the 1990s. They told some of the most horrific tales I have heard in my lifetime, although I had no way to weigh the veracity of their stories. If what I heard was true, I'd have to opine that those who only lose land are fairly lucky.

Here is some information that validates the stories you were told. I have a great deal more material on the topic.

Mandelas, hammer and sickle with KGB colonel and then-
South African Communist Party leader Joe Slovo, giving
communist salute in front of Soviet flag..

imgres


http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...n&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&cd=1

Since the overthrow of the white government, we have
seen an astronomic increase in rape, robbery and murder
sweep South Africa. Murders of police officers, now of
course mainly black are the highest in the world.
There are 150 rapes and 50 murders daily. In 2005
there were 571,000 new cases of AIDS, or about 1564
cases a day, with six times more women infected than
men. When the Africans had taken charge of the
government due to both their lack of ability and
absence of white men, the EU had to rescue the
situation with a $102 million in loans. Which due
to lack of progress had to be written off over a
thirteen year period. The black government and the
parasites who have asset stripped the country have
between them turned South Africa, once a first division
country into a violent diseased hell-hole. The country
is now populated principally by unfortunates who can't
get out and visiting bandits and speculators, who like
vultures have come to pick over the remains.
-----------------------------------------------

Killing all the white caucasian people in communist South Africa
Farm Murders
(vivid photography)

Note: The photos you see on this page are of true
farm attacks out in the rural areas. Murders which
take place on plots are not included here. This could
account for some discrepancies in various figures.
The figures given below EXCLUDE attacks on smallholdings
and plots:-

BRUTAL MURDERS ON FARMS: THE TOTAL PICTURE 1991-2001
Year Attacks Murders
1991 327 66
1992 365 63
1993 442 84
1994 442 92
1995 551 121
1996 468 109
1997 434 84
1998 827 145
1999 834 136
2000 902 142
Jan-Oct 2001 809 106
TOTAL 6401 1148

Note: Farm attacks have increased since 1994, when
the Mandela's ANC came to power.

All the photos you see on this page are white people
who were murdered or attacked by blacks. Kindly note,
our government falls over itself to spread news across
the world when a Police dog attacks a black man. They
then shout RACIST! RACIST! At the top of their voices.
The trained Police dog does not even draw blood. They
find this, and parade it as a white hate crime against
a black. Now come and take a look at a very small
sampling of black hate crimes on whites and compare
them. Note, these are often committed by fit young
black men - often against the very old or against
women or children. As I say in my book, our new leaders
are the most racist people in the country. They want
race hatred. They love it. It is the only thing that
gives them a reason to exist. They are incapable of
doing anything positive for the country so all they
can do is beat that worn old racist drum of theirs
and remind everyone that all our problems are supposedly
caused by whites! It is that sort of talk which encourages
and leads to crimes of the sort you will see on this page.
--------------------------------------------------------

Genocide of whites by the racist marxist regime of south africa
http://www.100megspop2.com/crimebusters/FarmVictims.html

The mass slaughter of our South African farmers and their workers
must stop. The murder rate amongst this sector our SA society
stands at 313 per 100,000 - the highest for any sector.
..............

You have a 90% chance of getting by with murder in South Africa
Articles

Members of his courageous farming community caught the
culprits, but they “escaped” from the local police cells.

Dr. Gregory H. Stanton heads Genocide Watch. He says the
slaughter of 2000 Boers is genocide. (One wonders why
"Carte Blanche" drastically underreported the number of
murdered Boers, pegging it at 1400 all told, when back in
January of 2006, Genocide Watch reported a total of 1820
murders.) The rates at which the farmers are being eliminated,
the torture and dehumanization involved—all point to systematic
extermination.

“Genocide is always organized, usually by the state,”
Stanton has written on Genocide Watch’s website. Indeed,
according to Sky News, the farmers believe “these attacks
are an orchestrated, government sanctioned attempt to purge
South Africa of white land owners, as has already happened
in Zimbabwe.” Consequently, Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket
of Africa, is now its dust bowl. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s
Marxist President, is greatly admired by Thabo Mbeki, South
Africa’s strongman, and head of the African National Congress.
 
Last edited:
#11
#11
I wonder what the estimated oil reserves are in south Africa.Their have been published reports of huge oil fields in other locations in Africa.

The height of irony is that the author of the
Church Street bomb, Aboobaker Ismail, has been
rewarded by his appointment as head of security
at the Reserve Bank in Pretoria, the same bank
where a British subject, Ian Plenderleith, holds
the position of Deputy Governor in an unprecedented
move in modern history where one country’s central
bank is partially controlled by a non-national.


(Comment by gs; not really true, our central bank, the federal reserve is and has been since 1913, owned by 60% foreign interests.)

On the East Rand, the notorious terrorist Robert
McBride, who murdered three innocent women and
injured another 73 civilians during the Magoo’s
Bar bombing in Durban on 14 June 1986, has been
appointed as head of the metropolitan police force.
The ANC is synonymous with outrage, either through
its many half—truths and lies about South African
history, or in its appointments of former terror
operatives to high government posts.

Above in this post is excerpted from;

Dan Roodt holds a Ph.D. from the University of the
Witwatersrand and a D.E.A. from the Université de
Paris VIII (Vincennes/St. Denis). He is a well-known
novelist and Afrikaner commentator who has played a
leading role in what has become known over the past
four years as the “Third Afrikaans Language Struggle.”

-------------------------------------------

THE REAL NELSON MANDELA
Africa falls to communism

What's happening in the rest of Africa, country by country.

Please be sure to read about Rwanda.

-------------------------------------------------

Government by deception by Jan Lamprecht
Government by Deception by Jan Lamprecht (Book) in Reference

picture of cover of book
http://static.lulu.com/author/display_thumbnail.php?fCID=1244260&fSize=zoom_&fSide=front&1218141211

Government by Deception - Psychopolitics in
southern Africa - Why South Africa could
become another Zimbabwe This is the book
that nobody believed could be true. It has
since had the most successful track record
of predictions of any political book ever
written in South Africa. Readers comment
that even in 2007, it is as if it were written
yesterday! The book touches on many aspects of
life in South Africa, but with a psychological
warfare emphasis. It describes guilt as a
racial weapon. It predicted many things which
have since come to pass. It was probably the
first book to discuss crime in S.Africa as a
clandestine war against Whites. Its predictions
about Zimbabwe have been borne out, including
the chapter, The Marxist Brotherhood. In that
chapter it was predicted that Mugabe's evil
would spread and that other African countries
would support him. In 2007, the world was
stunned when the 14 SADC countries supported
Mugabe in his "war against the Western world!"


Incisive book on how the ruling Marxist, racist ANC regime is engineering famine in South Africa. Dr Du Toit describes how the ANC commits systematic genocide against White farmers to steal their land. Absolute power flows not only from the barrel of a gun, but also from the hand which holds the food. Stalin starved 11 Million Ukrainians in 1933, Pol Pot 2 Million in 1975. Mugabe in 2000- is SA next? Read & decide for yourself. For a free PDF copy of the book, email boerboel@mighty.co.za

"During times of universal deceit, telling
the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
- George Orwell

"They'll forgive you for being wrong.
What they won't forgive you for is
being right." ---Robert L. Bartley

"Remember, there is such a thing as good
and evil." ---Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
 
#13
#13
I met a few expatriated South Afrikaners in the 1990s. They told some of the most horrific tales I have heard in my lifetime, although I had no way to weigh the veracity of their stories. If what I heard was true, I'd have to opine that those who only lose land are fairly lucky.

Some pertinent correspondences.
Savage murder campaign against white South African farmers

"Americans do not understand how hard it is to
immigrate. I find most Americans think that if
you apply to enter, well then, the U.S., Canada,
or Australia will let you in. NOT SO. It is
virtually impossible to immigrate legally to the
U.S., Canada, and Australia if you do not have
the right qualifications or huge sums of money.
This of course should make for commentary about
our immigration system, which selects for law-
breaking, venality, and risk taking, etc. I’ve
dealt with that somewhat here. Our refugee policies
should favor the Boer, but we favor the likes of
the “Lost Boys of Sudan”—more photogenic. Where
do you think the Zimbabwe farmers fled to? The
U.S.? No. Most left for South Africa, as far as
I know. Some might have had British passports.
The Boers don’t have that."

I wonder what the estimated oil reserves are in south Africa.Their have been published reports of huge oil fields in other locations in Africa.

The height of irony is that the author of the
Church Street bomb, Aboobaker Ismail, has been
rewarded by his appointment as head of security
at the Reserve Bank in Pretoria, the same bank
where a British subject, Ian Plenderleith, holds
the position of Deputy Governor in an unprecedented
move in modern history where one country’s central
bank is partially controlled by a non-national.


(Comment by gs; not really true, our central bank, the federal reserve is and has been since 1913, owned by 60% foreign interests.)

On the East Rand, the notorious terrorist Robert
McBride, who murdered three innocent women and
injured another 73 civilians during the Magoo’s
Bar bombing in Durban on 14 June 1986, has been
appointed as head of the metropolitan police force.
The ANC is synonymous with outrage, either through
its many half—truths and lies about South African
history, or in its appointments of former terror
operatives to high government posts.

Above in this post is excerpted from;

Dan Roodt holds a Ph.D. from the University of the
Witwatersrand and a D.E.A. from the Université de
Paris VIII (Vincennes/St. Denis). He is a well-known
novelist and Afrikaner commentator who has played a
leading role in what has become known over the past
four years as the “Third Afrikaans Language Struggle.”

-------------------------------------------

THE REAL NELSON MANDELA
Africa falls to communism

What's happening in the rest of Africa, country by country.

Please be sure to read about Rwanda.

-------------------------------------------------

Government by deception by Jan Lamprecht
Government by Deception by Jan Lamprecht (Book) in Reference

picture of cover of book
http://static.lulu.com/author/display_thumbnail.php?fCID=1244260&fSize=zoom_&fSide=front&1218141211

Government by Deception - Psychopolitics in
southern Africa - Why South Africa could
become another Zimbabwe This is the book
that nobody believed could be true. It has
since had the most successful track record
of predictions of any political book ever
written in South Africa. Readers comment
that even in 2007, it is as if it were written
yesterday! The book touches on many aspects of
life in South Africa, but with a psychological
warfare emphasis. It describes guilt as a
racial weapon. It predicted many things which
have since come to pass. It was probably the
first book to discuss crime in S.Africa as a
clandestine war against Whites. Its predictions
about Zimbabwe have been borne out, including
the chapter, The Marxist Brotherhood. In that
chapter it was predicted that Mugabe's evil
would spread and that other African countries
would support him. In 2007, the world was
stunned when the 14 SADC countries supported
Mugabe in his "war against the Western world!"

-----------------------------------------

list of the tyrants who now rule african nations
SudanTribune article : Europe and African Dictators


Incisive book on how the ruling Marxist, racist ANC regime is engineering famine in South Africa. Dr Du Toit describes how the ANC commits systematic genocide against White farmers to steal their land. Absolute power flows not only from the barrel of a gun, but also from the hand which holds the food. Stalin starved 11 Million Ukrainians in 1933, Pol Pot 2 Million in 1975. Mugabe in 2000- is SA next? Read & decide for yourself. For a free PDF copy of the book, email boerboel@mighty.co.za

"During times of universal deceit, telling
the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
- George Orwell

"They'll forgive you for being wrong.
What they won't forgive you for is
being right." ---Robert L. Bartley

"Remember, there is such a thing as good
and evil." ---Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

"It is easier to resist at the beginning
than at the end."
Leonardo da Vinci
 
#15
#15

Did you know the guy who gives final training and evaluation of all those agents in a UT almnus???

Know where that takes place???

I know that and much much more, if you're skeered just jump in my pocket!!!

Did you read the recent comment by Ted Turner equating FBI and KGB agents as being about the same???
 
#19
#19
chapter II, part 1:

Chapter II BOTSHABELO – THE PRIDE OF MIDDELBURG

Just 12 kilometres north of the Mpumalanga town of Middelburg is an historical gem which appears to be little known to many South Africans. It is now the subject of a land claim, a claim by people whose forefathers were given succour by missionaries in the nineteenth century and who are now demanding the very land to which their ancestors fled and which fostered them in their time of need.

Enormous tensions have built up in Middelburg between those who are afraid for the future of Botshabelo, and the claimants, some of whom have publicly declared they will turn the South African Heritage Site into a pig farm.
The Botshabelo affair is an egregious example of how the South African government’s land reform policy is out of control, and where the practical has been suffocated by the ideological.

othshabelo was established by German missionaries Alexander Merensky and Heinrich Grutzner in 1865. These two men were sent to South Africa by the Berlin Missionary Society, and arrived in Natal in 1858. There they made contact with the Zulus and the Swazis, and then began working among the Pedis with the permission of their king. Their first mission station was built in Gerlachtshoop, in the area controlled by the Pedi chief Maleo. With permission of the tribal chief Sekwati, more missions were built.

One stormy night the Merenskys were woken at the mission Gerlachtshoop in Sekhukhuneland by a distraught convert from Sekukhune’s kraal. He warned that hundreds of the chief’s impis were on their way to the mission. At that very moment Merensky’s wife went into labour, giving birth to a daughter within earshot of the chanting and howling warriors. Merensky sent a message for help to neighbour Hermanus Steyn who farmed on the other side of the Steelpoort river, the border between Sekhukhuneland and the old Boer Republic of the Transvaal, the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). Steyn sent a wagon packed with roof thatching.

It stopped near the mission station and Merensky’s wife and child hid under the thatching grass and were taken across the rising river to safety, together with the black converts from the mission. The water rose so quickly after Mrs. Merensky’s crossing that the impis could not cross.

On 21 January, 1865 Merensky and Grutzner bought the farm Boshoek (in the district of Middelburg) from Jan Abraham Joubert. On 8 February Merensky, his family and 113 refugees from Sekhukhune moved onto the farm which they called Toevlugsoord. It later became known as Botshabelo (“place of refuge”).

Johannes Dikwanjane, Sekhukhune’s brother, was one of the leaders of the tribal refugees at the mission. He assisted with the building of a fort (Fort Wilhelm, named after the German Kaiser) at the mission station because of the continual fear of a Sekhukhune attack. Other small forts and rampart walls were built to ensure the safety of the mission station. A rondavel and a church were constructed and all these buildings can still be seen today at Botshabelo. A shop, a mill with a permanent miller, a book binding operation and a press, a wagon-making shop and a blacksmith’s shed were created by a missionary with vision and talent.

The refugees had suffered at the hands of Chief Sekhukhune. He had plundered their cattle and crops. When they arrived at the mission in February it was already too late in the season to plant.

With detailed planning and their faith in God, according to historians, the mission and its refugees survived. Thus did Botshabelo become a home to those who had fled their chief and his tyranny. Merensky trained and schooled them. Under the mission’s tutelage, these refugees learnt to make wagons, they became cabinet makers, and they learnt to make bricks and to build. A school was built and the refugees were taught to read and write and were instructed in Gospel teachings.

The descendants of these refugees are now claiming Botshabelo. They say because they were born there, they have an historical right to the mission station, its land and its improvements. Undeterred by the fact that their forefathers survived because of the charity and concern of the German missionaries, these claimants are adamant the land is historically theirs. They have claimed the land under Section 11A (2) of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994, as amended.

Their claim form states that they were forcibly removed in January 1972 to the Motetema area and that their “houses were demolished and we were paid no compensation and received no land”.

This is not true. Lengthy negotiations between the then government’s representatives and the claimants took place, they were paid compensation and they received alternative living quarters.

The reason for their removal was because, at the time, mission stations were the collectors of homeless people who became in actual fact voluntary squatters.

Whether one agrees with the then government’s policy of removal or not, the point remains that the claimants were not the owners of the land upon which they squatted, nor did they have any historical/tribal claim to the land. They were at the mission station at the grace and favour of the missionaries.

In a document dated 8 September 2003, the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, Mpumalanga (CRLR) says that the claimants are the direct descendants of the original “buyers of the farm”. But those who sought refuge at the mission station, and their children, never bought the farm.

The CRLR also says that the community was dispossessed of the “beneficial rights to land, which include occupational rights”. In law, occupying land at that time did not give people legal title to the land.

(The Commission states they were removed in 1959, while the claimants say 1972. Whatever date applies, they had no rights to the land. The land was never transferred to them by the mission society. They simply lived there until they were moved.)

The early mission’s reputation spread far and wide. More and more people came to be converted, many it was felt because it was a safe place to stay and find work. In 1868 a bigger church building was commenced. It was added to and in 1871, the larger building was consecrated. By 1873, there were 1315 people living at Botshabelo. The mission station was at one time bigger than Middelburg, which was founded in 1864.

After Merensky’s return to Germany in 1882, he was replaced by others from the Berlin Missionary Society. Botshabelo became known as a witness to Christian teaching. It became a place for the propagation of Christian faith!

Many residents of Middelburg, taxpayers whose forefathers contributed to the upkeep and growth of Botshabelo, ask why this historical site (which attracts over 2 000 visitors per week) should now be handed over to a group of people whose forefathers happened to be born on the land because of the compassion of the missionaries. . It is not traditional tribal land. It never was in the hands of the claimants’ forefathers. They did not develop Botshabelo. They lived from it. For many Christians, Botshabelo represents something of a holy place, a place which was a refuge for Christians escaping certain death at the hands of Sekhukhune’s impis. Even the name implies this – Botshabelo means “a place of refuge”.
 
#20
#20
chapter II, part 2:

In 1972, the city council of Middelburg purchased Botshabelo and it has become a world-renowned tourist attraction. It was in the process of being declared a National Heritage Site, but the land claim stopped this process in its tracks. The land claim was contested by Dr. Klaus Merensky, great grandson of Alexander Merensky. His parents and the children of Alexander Merensky were buried in Botshabelo’s graveyard.

What will happen to the farm Groenfontein? Let us examine what happened to another farm which formed part of the same Botshabelo claim.

Our researchers visited the farm Leeupoortjie, in extent 428 ha which, according to the Government Gazette Notice 2233 of 1998, belonged to F.J. and J.D. van der Bank. At the time of handover around two years ago, the farm ran 400 head of beef and dairy cattle, a dairy and some mixed farming. The improvements were in excellent condition.

“We came to the farm in the afternoon”, said the researchers. “Three black men sat on tree stumps, smoking. We asked for the boss, and they said he’s not here. But we live and work here, they advised. What do you do, we asked. Where are all the cattle?

The farm property was in disarray. There was no sign of any cattle farming whatsoever. The buildings were decrepit, and the dairy was broken and rusted, while manure more than two years old still lay on the floor.

The cattle pens were broken, and the lighting had been vandalized. A few diseased cows and sheep walked past. The animals were thin.

We were told by a friend who accompanied us the cattle had not been dipped and looked like they had TB. The throats of the sheep were full of worms. We felt desperately sorry for these animals as they struggled along.

Nothing was happening on that farm, paid for with taxpayer’s money. The “owner” was nowhere to be seen, while the three workers were clearly just living there and looking after their own poor cattle. There was no sign of a crop or ploughing.

We moved along to the next farm. We cannot mention the name because the owner is being terrorized off his property. His farm has been claimed as part of the Botshabelo claim. A member of his family had been killed two weeks before we telephoned him. He was afraid to talk to us, and understandably so. This is today’s rural South Africa. The farmer has not received a penny for his farm, but he cannot live on it because of the terror and intimidation.

It is clear he will have to accept what the government decides to give him, if they give him anything at all. After all, why should they? He’ll probably leave the property anyway, as have farmers in other parts of South Africa who have been driven off their land.

His farm is next to a huge squatter camp of the same name, which developed on a piece of government property. There had been very little water there, and the original 400 000 squatters were moved off this property. They were given better land, and some were paid out. The water on the property was just enough for washing, and for this reason the pre-1994 government used the land as a training camp for certain government departments.

In 1996, the government training camp was closed down, and the original squatters returned. According to a source, this move was initiated by the Department of Land Affairs. Nobody knows why the squatters came back, but they have disrupted the whole neighboring farming community, including the farmer next door. His family was intimidated to such a degree that he moved them off his farm into town. .

The squatter camp was like all squatter camps in South Africa, a desolate, filthy place. Dead animals lay around, their corpses decomposing in the sun. We saw some water tanks in the distance. Clearly the government is bringing in water to an area upon which people should never have squatted in the first place.

Our local companion said bringing the squatters back – despite the fact they were paid out – was a political decision. Was it to frighten the surrounding farmers into selling, especially the farmer with the huge reservoir? It is not beyond the realms of possibility, seeing as this type of rural terrorism exists all over South Africa. We were told that local warlords at the squatter camp were selling plots to Mozambicans, but this could not be confirmed.

What of the other farms handed over as part of the Botshabelo claim? Our researchers were told one farm went to the mother of the Mpumalanga Minister of Safety and Security, another to the chairperson of the local tourism board, while a third was taken by Mr. Richard Mphele of COSATU.

Local resident Arthur Barlow, chairman of the Mpumalanga Heritage Foundation, the curator of Fort Merensky (a declared historical monument), has repeatedly requested the ID numbers and addresses of the claimants from the chairman of the Land Claims Commission in Nelspruit, to no avail. The Middelburg Observer has also tried to obtain the details, with no reply. All the claimants say they are descendants of those born on the farm, but no I/D numbers or other personal details are supplied. (For his trouble, Barlow was severely beaten up outside his door one night, and told to “keep your nose out of Botshabelo’s business”).

The claimants were assisted by the Johannesburg-based Legal Resources Center who are in turn financed by the Ford Foundation of America.

The mission farm is nearly 3000 ha in size. An airfield valued at R14 million lies within the property – the longest airstrip in Mpumalanga. The council now pays R800 a month to lease this airport. There is a well-developed tourist apparatus on the farm, with overnight accommodation, a caravan park and restaurants.

The cycad lanatis is endemic to the area – it only exists in that part of the world. It has been registered in the International Flora and Fauna catalogue but already most of these ancient trees have been uprooted and sold.

There are walking trails and over R1,5 million worth of game on the farm. More than 176 species of birds have been identified, as well as a large variety of prehistoric cycads. The farm itself is a living museum, with artifacts over 150 years old. Antique furniture, books and other objects were a priceless addition to the complex, but already articles of value and furniture have been stolen. This precipitated the removal of most of the valuables which were returned to their owners. These artifacts were naturally an integral part of the historical value of the site, and have now been lost to the visiting public.

Middelburg municipality is now under the control of the ANC, and although this municipality bought Botshabelo in 1972, the new council (the present owners) did not oppose the land claim. A local newspaper lamented the passivity and couldn’t care less attitude of the town council vis a vis the future of Botshabelo.

Ms. Ranthla also declared that when the land is in their possession, they will “look for donations” to ensure that their pig, crop and flower farming will flourish. The Council is expected to continue financially supporting Botshabelo.
 
#24
#24
Chapter III, part 1:

Chapter III VRYHEID, KWAZULU/NATAL

It was five and the heat was quickly dying; the glorious golden colouring of the late afternoon was creeping over everything when she rose from her chair. She moved to the door and took from behind it two large white calico bags hanging there, and from nails in the wall she took down two large brown cotton kappies. She walked round the table and laid her hand gently on her daughter-in-law’s arm. The younger woman raised her head slowly and looked up into her mother-in-law’s face and then suddenly she knew her mother-in-law was an old, old woman.
“I am going out to sow – the ground will be getting too dry tomorrow,” she said gently. The younger woman looked into her face and taking one of the brown kappies from her hand, put it on, and hung one of the bags over her left arm. The old woman did the same and together they passed out of the door.

The mould in the land was black and soft: it lay in long ridges, but the last night’s rain had softened it and made it moist and ready for putting in the seed. The bags which the women carried in their arms were full of the seed of pumpkins and mealies. They began to walk up the land. At every few paces they stopped and bent down to press into the earth, now one and then the other kind of seed from their bags. Slowly they walked up and down until they reached the top of the land, and then they turned and walked down, sowing as they went The light of the setting sun cast long, gaunt shadows from their figures across the ploughed land, shadows that grew longer and longer as they passed slowly on pressing in the seeds.

The seeds! … that were to lie in the dark, dark earth and rot there, seemingly to die, till their outer covering had split and fallen from them…. And then when the rains had fallen, and the sun had shone, to come up above the earth again, and high in the clear air to lift their feathery plumes and hang out their pointed leaves and silken tassels! To cover the ground with a mantle of green and gold through which sunlight quivered, over which the insects hung by thousands, carrying yellow pollen on their legs and wings and making the air alive with their hum and stir, while grain and fruit ripened surely… for the next season’s harvest.

…… Near one of the camps are the graves of two women. The older one died first from hunger and want. The younger woman tended her with ceaseless care and devotion till the end. They buried them side by side. There is no stone and no name upon either grave to say who lies there … our unknown… our unnamed… our forgotten dead.

If you look for the little farmhouse among the ridges you will not find it there today. A syndicate of people from Johannesburg and London bought the farm, they purchased it from the English government, because they think to find gold on it. They have purchased it and paid for it … but they do not possess it. Only the men and women who lie in their quiet graves upon the hillside, who lived on it, and loved it, possess it… and the piles of stones above them, from among the long-waving grasses, keep watch over the land.

- Entitled “Eighteen Ninety-Nine”, from “Stories, Dreams and Allegories” by Olive Schreiner, 1906, from the book “A Century of South African Short Stories”, published by Ad Donker, 1978. This Schreiner story recalls the hardships endured by the women left behind after their male relatives had succumbed during the Anglo-Boer war in South Africa, 1899 – 1903.

The Afrikaans word vryheid means freedom, liberty – even independence. Many South African farms and towns have Afrikaans names, and only someone who knows this evocative language can appreciate the passion behind these names. The country’s turbulent history is the fount of many. Other names express the emotions of a certain time and place – longing, happiness, sometimes melancholy. In no other Western country are names used so descriptively to reveal the heart of a people and their attachment to the land.

And so it is with Vryheid, in the province of KwaZulu/Natal. Through this part of South Africa flows Blood River, the 1838 milestone in Zulu/Afrikaner history. Vryheid was the capital of Die Nuwe Republiek, the territory given to Voortrekker leader General Lucas Meyer by Zulu chief Dinizulu in return for help in his struggle against the two opponents of his father, Zulu king Cetshwayo. This land was 1 355 000 morgen in size. The republic lasted only three years, from 1887 to 1890, but this land grant is an historical fact. Farmers in the area should carefully examine the land claims against their farms for historical authenticity.

In the context of South African history, land and its possession gave rise to the ebb and flow of power, struggle and victory. But today’s battle is about food, its production and the ultimate survival of 45 million South African people. These people depend on South Africa’s commercial farmers for their daily bread. We are talking about an assault on South African agriculture, where the number of commercial farmers has decreased from 70,000 to less than 35,000 over the past thirty years. We are talking about future famine in South Africa if this assault on agricultural stability is not stopped in its tracks

For years now, Vryheid farmer Kerneels Greyling has been involved in running battles with authorities past and present about his family’s four farms he now says are “worthless”. Copious correspondence handed to our researchers reveals a desperate farmer trying to save his life’s work. These farms are either near or bordering properties handed over to ‘emerging’ farmers by the Department of Land Affairs (DLA). Stock and crop theft are the order of the day.

Greyling’s predicament reveals nothing else other than that South Africa’s commercial farmers are on their own. Greyling sits with an “emerging farmer” (this is surely a euphemism!) right next to his property. Mr. Johannes Mdlalose, brother of the infamous Jabulani Mdlalose (whose sole occupation appears to be the selling of plots on white farms to itinerants at R1 500 a throw), wants to bring his 400-strong community onto his newly-acquired farm. Johannes has already demanded a five meter public thoroughfare through Greyling’s mealie fields.

Some years ago, seven black farmers and their families were given 200 ha by a church mission group, right next to Greyling’s farm. (The church people have long since abandoned their converts. Giving them the land was enough, they possibly thought.) For years now, on a daily basis, Greyling experiences border fencing theft, with the squatters’ herds mingling with his. These neighbours walk through the farm, leaving the cattle gates open.

For non-farmers, this mingling of herds seems innocuous. According to another Vryheid farmer with a herd of 400 cattle, most herds belonging to the Zulus have trichomoniasis, commonly known as ‘trich.’ This disease lowers the healthy calving rate – a profitable and successful rate is 70% to 80%, while most Zulu herds’ calving rate is 40% to 50%. “We have to pay a vet to test our bulls – R200 per bull. The mixing of the herds means a possibility of trich infection, which spells devastation for a healthy herd. A good stud bull is valued at anything from R10 000 to R15 000, whereas a bull for slaughter only fetches R4 000. I recently had to kill 4 stud bulls infected with trich.”

He and his son, with their security company personnel, regularly go into traditional areas to try and retrieve their cattle. They often see the skins and the heads where the cattle have been slaughtered. They recognize their own animals. This “citizen policing” is obligatory because the police are simply overwhelmed and, in many cases, are clearly not interested. Greyling and his sons have to pay informers – sometimes up to R9 000 a month – to find their cattle. The rate is so high because informers are in many cases beaten by the thieves.

So Greyling and his sons pay the security company, the helicopter costs, the informers, the commandos and the people who patrol their lands. We drove through Greyling’s 1754 ha farm. He produces mealies, wheat, beef cattle and sheep. 400 ha are irrigated. He has built roads and bridges throughout the property. He pointed out a derelict neighbouring property where squatters had moved in. To stop them stealing from him, Greyling planted mealies for them right on their doorstep. For six years he did this, then they complained the weed killer Greyling supplied was “no good”. The stealing re-commenced.

Despite Greyling’s activism in trying to stop an influx of squatters on to his neighbour’s farm, he currently cannot sell his own farms. The government’s land reform program has seen to that. The borders of KwaZulu are moving onto what used to be productive commercial farmland. Other farmers in the area have been driven off their properties.

A pattern is developing throughout traditional South Africa. Tribal chiefs appear to be having a field day courtesy of the land reform program. In northern KwaZulu/Natal, in Mpumalanga, in the Eastern Cape, in Limpopo, the chiefs are working assiduously to gain land, not for “the people”, but for themselves. Vryheid is no different. One Jabulani Mdlalose has become something of a warlord in the area. He has encouraged the invasion of privately-owned farmland by selling plots to squatters. As in the north of the province, Mdlalose is emboldened by the lack of law enforcement. Early in 2003, he notified the provincial Department of Land Affairs in writing that the Othaka Tribal Authority intended to take possession of 200 commercial farms in the area.

Although no such land claim has been validated, he has nonetheless threatened certain farmers to vacate their properties. To back up these threats, he has sold plots on their farms, and the illegal invasions have taken off.
 
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Chapter III, part 2:

After the new government came to power, things worsened. His fencing was stripped, and his cattle and crops were stolen. The hunting of his game and cattle increased to such an extent that calves were regularly ripped apart by the dogs. His grazing was regularly burnt. Then his life was threatened, and he stopped milling.

In 1988, Birkenstock rented the farm Waterval. He received a visit from Jabulani Mdlalose who told Johann he wanted the keys to the farm. In 1999 he was again visited by Jabulani who said the land was his and that he and his followers would “move in” if the government would not resolve the land reform question. Although Birkenstock told Jabulani he was willing to sell his land, the intimidation continued. Indeed, it has increased over the past three years. In July 2002, he noticed that structures were being erected on the farm Roodepoort, which he was renting. Those building the structures told him that they had obtained “permission” from Jabulani Mdlalose

In the same vein, farmer Dirk Kotze told MP Slabbert of his woes. He has been farming on Palmietfontein for thirty years. His farming operation supported more than 1 000 families with food per month, and 100 families with milk per day. Farms bordering on his were occupied by illegal squatters and the security situation deteriorated dramatically, he said.
His family regularly received threats, and on 6 February 2003, he and his wife were brutally attacked by five armed black men and robbed of their firearms, money and vehicle.(2) As with many other farmers, Kotze feels helpless. With no law enforcement, he sees no future in farming and asks the government to buy his farm. His farm is in pristine condition – Eskom lines, sufficient water, good buildings and chicken runs.

A third farmer in the area, Steve van Jaarsveld was visited by Jabulani in July 1999. He told Steve of his plans to “settle” people on various commercial farms in the district. In March 2002, occupations began on the neighbouring farm Wanbestuur.

The squatters appeared in April 2002 and erected structures. Van Jaarsveld reported the matter to the police who said they could do nothing because the owner of the property, LandbouKrediet, had not laid a charge. Despite many calls to LandbouKrediet , it appears no charges have been since laid, and more squatters have streamed on to the farm.
In June 2002, structures appeared on the farm Metzelfontein which van Jaarsveld was renting. The police investigated, but again said they could do nothing because “the people said they had purchased the farm from Jabulani Mdlalose”. End of story! No investigation into whether what they said was true, no removals, no charges laid. It would appear that the police and Mdlalose are very good friends, as is the case with Chief Mathaba and the police in northern Natal.

We saw the farms of Dirk Kotze, Johan Birkenstock and Fanie van Jaarsveld. In van Jaarsveld’s living room, he showed us bullet holes in his leg – he had been recently attacked and beaten outside his front door. If it were not for his boerboel dog, he would have been killed. As it was the three men who assaulted him shot the dog who miraculously survived. The bullet holes through the brave animal’s head can be clearly seen, and he is none the worse for wear!

Johan Birkenstock confirmed he had to put out fires 33 times over one winter. “We can’t move the squatters. The police can’t do it, and it takes too much money and heartache. Dirk Kotze’s farm was also burnt out. The fences were simply taken away. They stole all his cattle. They steal each month, and every year they burn him out. How can we farm under these circumstances?

Letters were also sent by organized agriculture to the Minister of Safety and Security about the situation, but despite high level meetings between MP Jan Slabbert, provincial agricultural minister Narend Singh and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosi Nyanga Ngubane, no action was taken. Instead, the farmers were told they should institute a civil action. Thus, farmers have to spend small fortunes retaining attorneys to seek redress because the police are not doing their job.

Thus starts the endless cycle of litigation as orders served on certain squatters are rendered invalid because they have left and are replaced by other squatters. In one case, and eviction was granted and the squatter refused to move. He was then evicted (more costs!) but simply moved back into his house and has increased his building activity.

In January 2003, Vryheid attorney Bertus van der Merwe wrote to the Senior Prosecutor at the Magistrate’s Court in Vryheid that “a very dangerous situation is developing” along the Vryheid-Babanango road where properties are being invaded by “people who seem to have the impression that the authorities will not step in to take the necessary steps to protect the rights of owners”.

The Department of Land Affairs wrote to attorneys representing the affected farmers on 27 March 2003, declaring that they do not support land invasions and that “the landowners should act as soon as possible. They should lay trespass charges with the police in order to avoid legal costs”. Farmers know that, but the lack of activity by the police forces them to institute privately-funded civil actions.

The police say they can do nothing about land that is “under dispute”. But all they have to do is check with the local municipality to find out who owns what land. This is a lame excuse, and the SA Police’s lack of action is probably the main cause of this terrible rash of land invasions occurring throughout South Africa. In June 2003, Jabulani Mdlalose was arrested and charged with illegally selling plots on commercial farms. He was granted bail in mid August 2003. Further fraud charges are building up against him. The court has also restrained him from purporting to be chief of the Othaka Tribe and allocating land on private farms.

Jaco Duminy, chairman of the Vryheid Farmers’ Association showed us copious correspondence addressed to the Minister of Safety and Security, the local member of Parliament, the KwaZulu/Natal premier, the Department of Land Affairs and the letter that started it all, from Jabulani Mdlalose to the Department of Land Affairs (DLA) dated February 2003 where he declares he is head of the Othaka Tribal Authority.
This letter “informs” the DLA that land which was given to him “by the former government in 1986/7” will now be used “for farming from 1 April 2003”. (Of course Jabulani’s version of “farming” is somewhat different from that of commercial farmers in the area).
He then attached a list of the commercial farms which he says were given to him – there were nineteen in all.

The wires on Jaco Duminy’s farm gate had been cut as we drew up to his farm. Some of his cattle were already drifting on to the road. Duminy told us he had also been visited by a delegation from Jabulani who stated they would take his farm. The restraining order on Jabulani has, however, put a damper on the visiting delegations, but it is a Pyrrhic victory because it cost the farmers more than R80 000 to get that restraining order, and the fraud case against Jabulani is not yet completed. Once again, complaints about the police abound. A local farmer noticed his fencing wire was cut. Members of the police’s Stock Theft Unit came to help. They traced the cattle, and found the culprits but the police didn’t arrest them. This farmer says the Stock Theft Unit is “a joke”.

It has been reduced from 30 to ten people while the area of jurisdiction has doubled in size over the last 15 years. “They don’t even have vehicles”, said the abject farmer.

A serious scandal of lost farmland and waste of taxpayer’s money greeted us in the Gwebo area. Three farms totalling around 4 000 ha - Kromellenbog, Eerstepunt and In Memoriam - were handed over to none other than Johannes Mdlalose. We were told that Eerstepunt had been one of the finest farms in the district – “it had the best cover of grass I’ve seen in a long while” said a local farmer. The owner really looked after the farm, he said – the camps and feeding troughs were in tip top condition for the more than 200 beef cattle which thrived on the farm. After the handover, agriculturalists were called in to give advice, and foremen were appointed so that the new owners had all the help they needed.

Consultants drew up a business plan which was extremely comprehensive. It showed prospective occupants how to run the farm, explained the use of the tools and the farming equipment – the tractors and the ploughs – which were included in the deal. There was a big “handover” party for more than 300 people who ate and drank at taxpayers’ expense.
It later transpired that the local indunas (local chief) threw out the qualified people, and ignored the business plan. Fearful of any threat to their authority, their actions resulted in the three farms “falling back into the stone age”, according to one observer. We traveled through these lands. Grazing grass was high – this was during the height of the 2003 drought – because there were no beasts – certainly not in the numbers which would constitute a profitable beef operation. The farmhouse had been occupied by the Zulu VIP’s, and squatter huts had been constructed. It looked like a picture from some old South African historical picture of Zululand. The occupants stripped the farm fences and used this to fence their own squatter houses. There is no water-born sewage. There appeared to be abundant water. As we approached one group of buildings, shots rang out in our direction and we quickly turned tail. There are plenty of guns in the beloved country.
 

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