Parliament’s land reform and rural development committee has failed to rescue a distressed farm labour tenant’s family from the abuse and intimidation by a white farmer who cut off their water, burnt their vehicle and denied them basic rights.
The committee conducted an oversight visit to Mlungisi Nkambule’s home on Wydgelegen Farm Portion 7 HT53 near Wakkerstroom, in Mpumalanga, in October last year.
The horror of the abuse the family continues to suffer was tabled in a report before parliament this week, five months after the committee’s visit.
“My mother was so happy when she heard that parliament had finally listened to our cries,” a distressed Nkambule told Sunday World this week.
“We celebrated, my wife and children and I, waiting for the 14-day deadline they gave us for them to summon me, the farm owner and the local police to parliament. But those 14 days turned into five months. We are still waiting. No one came back. No one called,” he said.
Nkambule’s family has lived and worked on the farm for generations.
Under the Extension of Security Tenure Act, the family enjoys special rights on the land as long-term occupiers.
“We live poor lives in mud houses and have nowhere else to go. They have done everything to drive us away. They intimidate us and harass us, and when we go to the police, nothing happens. I know that if I were to be killed today, no one would care. The farm owner intimidating us is powerful. Not even the government can touch him,” Nkambule said.
In 2016, the farm owner, Johan Landman, who could not be reached for comment this week, allegedly cut off their water supply without warning and the family still does not have access to electricity.
“We have asked for electricity many times but the farm owner refuses to sign the permit. The government cannot install electricity without his permission. He will not give it. So we live in darkness, while he enjoys all the comforts. I have to go to town just to charge my phone,” Nkambule said.
In one of the threats on his family, Nkambule’s bakkie was set alight by unknown assailants.
“The police came while it was still burning. But did they investigate? No. Did they arrest anyone? No.”
Last year, one of the houses his family owns was also torched. Again, no arrests were made.
“I even gave them a name. I went to court for a protection order. The person violated it, and still, nothing happened. I have been attacked by groups of young white men. I have been humiliated. But no one cares.”
Nkambule’s fight for justice has not just been against the farm owner – it has been against a system that seems designed to break him.
Government-appointed lawyers, who were supposed to defend his land rights, suddenly withdrew from the case.
“They told me I was dealing with extremely powerful people. They were afraid to lose their careers or their lives. They abandoned me,” Nkambule said.
This week, his name surfaced in parliament when the report from last year’s oversight visit was tabled.
MK Party MP Khayelihle Madlala accused the government of siding with white farm owners against the poor.
“We visited the Nkambule family in Mpumalanga. They are crying. They say white farm owners burned their vehicle, but the police report to white farm owners.”
The SA Human Rights Commission has found during three separate enquiries into conditions on farms that farm dwellers and labour tenants face constant human rights violations from farm owners.
Portfolio committee chairperson Mangaqa Mncwango denied that parliament abandoned Nkambule, saying significant steps have been taken to address his plight.
“I wouldn’t say there is a lack of progress.
“From the portfolio committee’s perspective, a lot has happened regarding the Nkambule family and other labour tenant cases we engaged with during our oversight visit in Mpumalanga,” the chairperson told Sunday World.
He said the committee tabled a report in the National Assembly, which the minister of land reform “is now required to act on the recommendations and report back to parliament”.
Responding to allegations of police inaction, he confirmed that SAPS had appeared before the committee.
