A desperate plea for intervention has landed on the desks of South Africa’s highest offices, as more than 30 emerging black farmers in KwaZulu-Natal accuse corrupt officials of systematically sabotaging the very land redistribution programme designed to empower them.
The unfolding scandal, a detailed formal letter from the Izwi Labantu Forum (ILF) to Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Land Reform Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, paints a grim picture of egregious maladministration, intimidation and outright corruption within the provincial structures of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD).
According to ILF chairperson Norma Mbatha, the farmers, who are beneficiaries of the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (Plas), are enduring a “reign of terror” that mocks the principles of the democratic Constitution and the Freedom Charter’s edict that “the land shall be shared among those who work it”.
Instead of driving rural transformation and food security, these farmers face a coordinated assault on their livelihoods and dignity.
“ILF has documented a pattern of abuse that includes arbitrary eviction notices, threats of lease cancellations, denial of critical support despite approved business plans, discriminatory practices, and insidious corruption favouring external associates,” Mbatha stated.
She described this “systemic betrayal as a force that devastates individual lives, perpetuates poverty, exacerbates youth unemployment, and stifles economic growth in rural KZN”.
The letter provides harrowing case studies. One farmer, Leonard Sibusiso Ndlovu of Isibusiso Sethu Farming and Projects, holds a 30-year Plas lease in the Umhlathuze Local Municipality.
Despite 18 years of occupation and development, he received a termination letter in August, demanding that he hand over the land within weeks. The department cited vague failures while ignoring his proven track record and its own failure to provide promised infrastructure support.
The ILF’s formal disputes on his behalf were met with a “stony silence”.
In another instance, solo female farmer Nompilo Cynthia Mtshali faces acute security risks travelling to her vast, unfenced and unstaffed 1 136-hectare property. A meeting in September, which had resolved to provide urgent intervention, reportedly dissolved when officials prioritised defending a senior colleague, with one allegedly “declaring war” on the ILF and the farmer herself.
Mbatha warned that blocking the growth of these Plas enterprises, which are capable of generating millions of rands in revenue and hundreds of jobs, directly fuels KZN’s 40% rural unemployment rate and undermines food security. She argued it perpetuates a stark inequality, where redistributed land lies fallow while white commercial farms continue to receive preferential support.
The ILF’s urgent request is for Mashatile, Steenhuisen, and Nyhontso to intervene decisively, arguing that the officials’ actions directly contradict the government’s commitments to land justice and inclusive agriculture.
In response, the wheels of government have begun to turn, albeit with bureaucratic caution. Mashatile’s spokesperson, Keith Khoza, confirmed the Presidency had forwarded the ILF letter to the two relevant ministers to address the concerns.
However, the path to resolution appears complex.
Steenhuisen’s spokesperson Joylene van Vyk confirmed receipt of the letter on November 5, but disputed ever receiving any prior correspondence from the ILF, stating that any such formal representation would have been logged and actioned.
She further clarified that the agriculture minister’s hands are largely tied, as the majority of the issues – land tenure disputes, Plas leases, and administrative complaints – fall squarely under the separate mandate of the DALRRD.
The ball now rests firmly in the court of Land Reform Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso. His department, through spokesperson Linda Page, has confirmed receipt of the letter.
“Last month, the minister met with Plas farmers as part of efforts to address concerns that they have raised,” Page said.
For the dozens of farmers on the brink, these high-level communications represent a final hope.
They now wait to see whether the intervention from the top will dismantle the alleged corrupt systems within the provincial offices, or if their dreams of working the land will be extinguished by what they call a “chronicle of betrayal and neglect”.
