3 MBONDZELA DWELLERS DEMAND E3.7M FROM FARM OWNER

MBABANE – Occupants of Mbondzela Farm alleged that they were forced to sign at gunpoint that they agreed to leave the farm.

As a result, the occupants of the farm, whose houses were demolished at Mbondzela Farm in a bid to evict them, are demanding E3.7 million from the farm owner. Mciniseli Nhleko wants the owner of the farm to compensate him with the sum of E1 006 175 and furniture valued at E62 875. Petros Mdluli wants to be compensated with the sum of E2 752 368 and furniture valued at E173 687.88. They are represented by Ben J. Simelane and Associates. They alleged that the demolitions carried out on May 6, 2024 were carried out without a court order.

They contended that, as a result, the demolitions were unlawful and the farm owner took the law into his own hands. The Director of Mahamba Gorge (Pty) Ltd, Sandile Simelane of Nkoyoyo, said he compiled a list of residents who rejected his offer he made to all the farm occupants, who were willing to vacate the farm.  In his answering papers, Simelane listed 18 occupants and said they appeared to have rejected the offer, to leave the farm. He told the court that the applicants were not among the 18 residents.

According to Simelane, three appeared to have rejected the offer, but later took it and he gave them building material. He alleged that eight approached him for building materials and indicated that they were willing to leave the farm. The farm owner said four of the farm occupants were not living on the farm, but had structures within it, yet they had either been allocated land or had already established their homesteads at various chiefdoms.

Simelane said this information could be confirmed with the various royal kraals, as well as the people he had mentioned. He said some of the people had provided their contact details. He implored the court to finalise the matter, because it had been over 10 years since the applicants allegedly ‘grabbed a portion of my farm and I have done everything to be civil and humane, but I have suffered in the course of such exercise’.

Threatened

Mdluli, in their replying affidavit, alleged that Simelane, the farm owner, had, through himself and the use of his employees, threatened the farm dwellers and coerced them into agreeing to leave the farm. “None of these people agreed voluntarily. The destruction of my home and that of Mciniseli Nhleko was used as an example. People were told that if they did not agree to leave voluntarily, a bulldozer would immediately demolish their homes. “Three men, being Zwane, Bongani Dlamini and the driver of the TLB, Sibandze, went around threatening the farm dwellers to agree to leave or their homes would be demolished. Sibandze carried a gun for the purpose of the threats,” Mdluli alleged.

He said it was correct that one Velaphi Jabulani Hlatshwako accepted the offer of the building materials from Simelane. According to Mdluli, the offer was that Simelane would build a three-room house, rondavel and toilet. Simelane submitted that Mdluli had only dug a pit for a latrine and nothing else. The farm owner, he alleged, was not telling the truth when he said he gave Hlatshwako building material. Hlatshwako filed a supporting affidavit and admitted that Simelane made him an offer for a three-room house, rondavel and pit latrine. He said he found land at Gege and Simelane dug the pit for the latrine and brought 40 pieces of broken cement blocks. He said these were supposed to be used to build the pit larine.

“Sandile refused to supply anything further, saying that he was busy with a tender in Mbabane. Sandile never built me a three-room house and a rondavel. He only dug a pit for a latrine and nothing more. “The situation became so desperate that I had to ask the umphakatsi for logs to build a stick-and-mud flat. The umphakatsi agreed. I live in a stick-and-mud flat and there is no three-room house or rondavel from Sandile Simelane,” Hatshwako submitted in his supporting affidavit.The deponent, Mdluli, further informed the court that one Ntombinde Dlamini was listed among those who accepted Simelane’s offer.

“She has actually filed an affidavit to say that Sandile Simelane never made an offer to her. When told that she had to relocate, she asked Sandile how she was to build her home, instead of reacting to the reality that Ntombinde is too old to build a new home, he left,” alleged Mdluli.  In her supporting affidavit, Ntombinde submitted that a day after the demolition of the houses at the homesteads of Nhleko and Mdluli, there arrived one Sibandze, Zwane and Bongani, to tell her and her husband that the farm owner wanted them out of the farm, as he was demolishing all the homes on the farm.

Gun

Ntombinde alleged that Sibandze was armed with a gun and they were told that if they did not sign that they would leave the farm, their home would be demolished on the same day. “My husband refused to sign, saying he was hard of hearing and it was too late. I signed because of the threats to my home, myself and family,” Nombinde submitted. Meanwhile, Simelane, according to Mdluli, was not being honest with the court when he stated that the people were willing to leave.

“Sandile Simelane is the person who, through his employees Zwane, Dlamini and Sibandze, threatened these people into signing or agreeing to leave the farm for fear of the gun threats and the bulldozer demolishing their homes as it had done to my home and that of Mciniseli Nhleko. In fact, the trio of Sibandze, Zwane and Dlamini made an example of me and Nhleko,” Mdluli alleged. The matter is pending in court.

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