Make+way+for+wild+animals,+Wonder+Hlongwa,+City+Press

City Press, Johannesburg, 27/01/2007 17:53 - (SA)
=MAKE WAY FOR WILD ANIMALS=


 * WONDER HLONGWA**

Falakhe Ngwenya clearly remembers that day in October last year when murdered farm manager Kenneth Eva, accompanied by a band of camouflaged security guards, came to Esibhonsweni village to evict them.

“They came and told us to get out. When we said no, they brought in tractors and workmen to demolish our homes and impound our livestock,” recalls Ngwenya.

The disputed strip of land, which led to Eva’s murder by villagers more than a fortnight ago, is a vast tract of prime cattle land that lies near Shakaland – a popular destination for foreign tourists.

The villagers say it belongs to the Ingonyama Trust, which controls tribal land. But the owner of New Venture farm, Mark Chennells, says it is part of his farm and he wants to turn it into a game farm.

“This area is next to Shakaland, which is the 10th most popular tourist destination in the land, and foreign tourists like to see African game. We already have a game park here, known as Phobane, and we want to join this land to that game park,” said Chennells.

Hundreds of commercial farmers have evicted their labourers and converted to game farming, turning vast tracts of prime cattle and arable land into fenced wilderness areas for rhino, lion and other game. The hunting boom that is driven by wealthy tourists is driving black South Africans off the land to make way for game, and causing anger that whites still own most of the land, more than a decade into democracy.

“We have been raped. And all the while the perpetrators are crying that they are the victims, while at the same time they are demolishing our homes, our heritage and our lives,” said a local, Mtalaselwa Zulu.

Zulu has two wives and 15 children and is now forced to sleep in his car while the rest of his family share a shack that he built shortly after the demolitions.

It is a dispute over Esibhonsweni village, a settlement of about 50 homesteads of thatched mud huts and a population of just over 500, that has turned this area into a battle ground that has pushed racial tension to an all-time high.

Eva was murdered more than a fortnight ago when he demanded, at a meeting with villagers, that they pay grazing fees for their livestock and “for each hectare of cultivated land”. Representatives of the rural poor say turning to game is an excuse to get rid of blacks whom white farmers blame for a surge in theft and violent crimes since 1994.

Under the apartheid government, black South Africans were not allowed to own land and millions were evicted from ancestral land to make way for white settlers. Now the rural poor expect the government to redress those past injustices by transferring commercial farmland to prospective black farmers, thereby building a new class of black farmers.

“People lodged claims eight or 10 years ago but nothing is happening. In the meantime, the farmer is harassing them and demanding that they reduce their livestock or they will be kicked out,” said Sifiso Kunene of the Association for Rural Advancement (Afra).

Kunene said they have done research on the booming eco-tourism initiatives and are convinced that the underlying reason is not only the lucrative nature of the business but also a strategy to get rid of African people living on the farms.

“The disturbing thing is that when these farmers develop their business plans and apply for loans, they say they are going to create jobs but those jobs are only for those who are prepared to perform Zulu dances for foreign tourists or those willing to work as security guards or cleaners – which is not what we want,” said Kunene.

Surveys show that while some farmers, worried by the violent seizure of farms from their colleagues in Zimbabwe, agree that there is a need for urgent redistribution, others remain reluctant.

The reluctant ones are accused of manipulating or inflating prices, which has led to the government adopting an expropriation stance on some farms for which negotiations on a willing-buyer, willing-seller approach have failed.

Since 1994 just over 5% of land has been transferred to blacks, a figure blamed on government’s unwillingness to spend money, bureaucratic delays and greedy sellers.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/City_Press/Features/0,,186-1696_2060716,00.html**

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