The Mamphodo Mushasha Begwa Community Property Association (CPA) – one of Mzansi’s most successful land reform stories – have been brought to its knees due to consistent acts of alleged vandalism and sabotage.
In a news report compiled by SABC News, Eric Mukwevho, chairperson of Mamphodo-Mushasha Begwa CPA said that over a 100 farm workers had lost their income as a result of these acts.
The 3000-hectare farming unit located in Louis Trichardt in Limpopo was attained through a land restitution process in 2006.
The current management tried to obtain a court interdict at the end of 2020 to stop a group from interfering with activities on the farms.
However, alleged vandalism and sabotage have plagued the farm for years now, forcing the management to close the business after losing millions of rands worth of produce. The farm specialised in vegetable and cattle farming and sold to major market across South Africa.
“After we started with the first harvest, those people came with bakkies and harvested all the production, and again after the second harvest they came again and did the same. As you can see the chillies here are still in the weeds, this is one of the products we were supposed to send to the market,” Mukwevho said.
The CPA said it believed that some members of the community were behind the acts.
According to Mukwevho none of the suspects have been arrested despite numerous cases being reported.
“We are continuing to report cases to the police but we are not getting any assistance, we have plus minus nine cases which were reported and none of them were attended to because most of the cases were withdrawn,” Mukwevho added.
ALSO READ: Roads in disrepair: Farmers count the ‘wasted’ costs
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain.
