The land claim complications regarding Agribusiness farm in Salem reached boiling point this week when the claimants met with several Makana municipal officials and officials from both the Department of Land Affairs and the Land Claims Commission.
The land claim complications regarding Agribusiness farm in Salem reached boiling point this week when the claimants met with several Makana municipal officials and officials from both the Department of Land Affairs and the Land Claims Commission.
The parties met on site on Monday to discuss issues concerning the farm’s equipment and machinery, but discussions soon degenerated into hate speech, racist and xenophobic statements and incitements of violence. However, these statements were neither denounced nor curtailed by a single municipal or governmental official in attendance, and in some cases officials appeared to agree with the racist slurs made against white farmers in Salem, and specifically former farm owner, Martin Fick.
Those attending the meeting were members of the Salem Land Claimants’ Committee (SLCC), Makana Mayor Vumile Lwana and municipal manager, Ntombi Baart, as well as a director from the department of Land Affairs, Zama Memela and lands claims commissioner, Linda Faleni.
Misile Nondzube, a member of the SLCC, led the meeting and made racist remarks throughout, saying that he personally wants to make sure that all white farmers are removed from the Salem community. "We want every area that says Salem, because it is ours," he said. He also attacked Lwana by saying that he must "be scared of white people" because he had not yet ordered Fick off the property. Lwana did not respond. Statements were also made regarding the nationality of Fick’s managerial staff, saying that he only employs Zimbabweans (as he is originally from Zimbabwe) and that he is thereby depriving the community of jobs.
These and similar statements were being made while in close proximity to Fick while he was attempting to remove all his feed from the premises and pack up his equipment. He was not invited to partake in the meeting and neither was the Amabhoxo Development Trust, a group set up by the Land Claims Commission and Department of Land Affairs to assist with allocating land to claimants. Amabhoxo chairman Gibson Nombewu was unavailable for comment at the time of going to print, but had previously indicated his support of Fick staying on the farm for the time being. "We have a very good working relationship with Martin Fick, who has been supporting us in our endeavours," he was quoted by The Herald.
According to Fick, the trust is the only registered body, while the Salem Land Claimaints’ Committee is a splinter group that has been intimidating not only white farmers in Salem, but also farm workers living and working on farms in the Salem area. "No one has even checked if these people are registered claimants," he said. Fick sold the farm in July this year after the Land Claims Commission received and processed a claim for the farm. However Fick asked both these groups for permission to lease the feed mill and warehouse on the farm property until he could find a suitable site elsewhere. Land claims commissioner, Faleni suggested he speak to the "people on the ground"- both the SLCC and the Amabhoxo Development Trust- after which they agreed to lease the 81-hectare farm. It was after that agreement was reached that the SLCC decided they wanted Fick to leave, staging a protest on Friday and carrying placards stating: Go back to Zimbabwe!"
Grocott’s Mail has a copy of the document from the trust stating that Fick may make use of the requested buildings at no charge for five years. He says he made an agreement with the SLCC to lease the properties for a total of R15 000 per month from 1 October, even though the committee is not legally allowed to request payment. Fick does not have a document corroborating this fact, as the minutes from the meeting have been kept by members of the group for quite some time, according to Agribusiness accountant, Dennis Gorivoto.
On Saturday, 26 September, the Fick family moved out the farmhouse. Fick says a claimant supporting the Amabhoxo Trust was then allocated to move in after the family had left. "On Saturday night, the [Salem Land Claimaints’ Committee] physically threw out the trustee. What they’ve done is illegal," he said. This was confirmed by Agribusiness financial director, Robert Munyawiri who said: "They are a more powerful faction that the Amabhoxo Trust." Fick said the Amabhoxo Development Trust is pursuing the matter in court, but due to lengthy legal proceedings, Fick feels the trust has been rendered ineffective. "The majority of Salem supports a group that is powerless," he said. "The people working here [at Agribusiness]are losing jobs and they will starve," said Munyawiri.
"All we want is the improvement of the quality of life for all people," said Fick, referring to the Khula-Sizwe (growing the nation) project which funds and runs three Agribusiness branches in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Khula-Sizwe started in Zimbabwe in 1997 with the aim to support and mentor small-scale and emerging ostrich farmers. According to the website: "A network of commercial partners linked to the project then guaranteed international markets, ensuring that the small-scale farmers achieved competitive prices for their products." Fick’s farm alone supports 98 small-scale farmers in Peddie, who now have no feed for their livestock as a result of the eviction. "We don’t feel right, it is a wrong situation," said Mthobile Maselwa, the chairman of Khula Sizwe Ostrich Farmers Participation Incentive Trust, a trust which was formed with the support of the National Department of Agriculture and the National AgriBEE Fund. Nonolelo Mangi, a trustee, said that there is already no food for her ostriches. "I think it’s a problem. I’m not happy," she said.
Due to the concern regarding the future of these emerging farmers, National Deputy Director-General of Agriculture, Andile Hawes, has also getting involved in the controversial Agribusiness claim. He declined to comment on the matter until he had been fully informed of the pending situation. "There is always a problem with the handover of such land claims in South Africa," he said. "I am currently discussing the situation with Land Affairs. The actual claim of the farm is not my jurisdiction, but I am concerned by the level of production," he said, referring to the now disadvantaged small-scale farmers previously supported by Fick.
"I just want to help people. Are our efforts discounted because we are white?" Fick asked. "South Africa’s past will haunt the country for a long time to come. But working for yourself builds your dignity," he said. "If you are just given stuff it is a confession that you are not good enough to work for it on your own".
Since the farm was bought in July, he was given an extension until 30 September to vacate the premises. This was apparently because his family had been involved in a car accident in April, in which Fick’s son, Timmy, was killed. Fick was in hospital due to his injuries for well over a month. "We buried him in Salem," he said. "We’ve lived here in total peace and harmony for seven years," he said.
Fick has since left the farm and took his machinery with him. He is now occupying the old Kynoch warehouse in the industrial area to use as his feed mill. "The warehouse is not as big as we would like it to be and we will have to downscale which will bring job losses to some people." He said this is hard for him and totally unnecessary as the people in Salem are losing out. He is in the process of cleaning the warehouse in preparation to start working from there.
