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The scam started after the Northern Cape government initiated an Agri-BEE project in 2016 in which individual farm labourers were given R800 000 each to buy shares collectively in 22 commercial farming businesses where they worked.

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Sizwe sama Yende 

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Northern Cape Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform, Mase Manopole, threatened a victim of a commercial farming shareholding scam with a lawsuit as she distances herself from the plight farm labourers who lost R800 000 each.

The People’s Eye has learnt that Manopole targeted Mandilakhe Lincoln Mpemba after he posted scathing comments on the department’s Facebook page about the scam following the publication of our story in May.

Manopole’s communications team opted not to respond to The People’s Eye’s questions then, but issued a media statement to rubbish Mpemba’s post.

The scam started after the Northern Cape government initiated an Agri-BEE project in 2016 in which individual farm labourers were given R800 000 each to buy shares collectively in 22 commercial farming businesses where they worked.

It is estimated that government forked out more than R100 million to empower the farm workers. They were, however, agri-business owners for a very short time afterwards as their white partners allegedly inveigled them into selling their shares back to them for a mere R20 000.

The department’s spokesperson, Bongani Silindile, has, bizarrely, denied that Manopole had any knowledge of the equity scheme or farm workers who lost their shareholding and even their jobs.

However, records of previous meeting indicate that the provincial department was involved from the beginning. It may have been prior to Manopole’s appointment as MEC, but her predecessors were involved.

“MEC has no knowledge of farm workers who lost shares in any equity scheme. It should be stated that the equity scheme for farm workers was initiated by and that such is the competency of the National Department of (Agriculture) Land Reform & Rural Development . And as such the Provincial department of Agriculture had no authority over the administration of the scheme,” Silindile said.

Silindile added that Manopole could not legally act in this matter and was urging anyone with information of any irregularities to report to law enforcement agencies. 

Monapole’s department has also refused to pay R3.7 million to Morwapheta Consulting Services – a company that investigated the scam at the request of the Master of the High Court.

Morwapheta Consulting Services owner, Mpho Sebashe, said that the Master of the High Court opposed the department’s court application for an order not to pay for the investigation.

The Master of the High Court appointed Morwapheta after the provincial department requested the office to investigate the irregularities with the scam.

The black farm workers, mostly uneducated, were allegedly given documents written in big and legalese Afrikaans to sign away their government-sponsored shareholding.

The workers thought they were signing for their annual dividends but were surprised to learn that they sold their shares back to the white farmers for a mere R20 000 each.

Sebashe investigated Badirammogo Trust but said that the farmers involved in all the 22 schemes allegedly used the same modus operandi.

According to the  Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development’s appeal court papers dated April 15 2024,  departmental head, Moira Marais, argues that the department did not appoint Morwapheta Consulting Services to conduct the investigation.

Marais said that the majority judges in the Kimberley High Court erred when they relied on minutes of a meeting that took place on June 30 2017 as being indicative that the department instructed the Master of the High Court to appoint Sebashe’s company.

Sebashe has since reported the matter to the Public Service Commission.