---

The workers, most of them illiterate, were given documents written in Afrikaans legalese and were told to sign for their dividends. Little did they know they were selling their shares back to the farm owners for R20 000.

---

Sizwe sama Yende

---

The Northern Cape Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development’s department has quietly withdrawn the department’s appeal against a court order to pay R3.7 million to a company that investigated and laid bare how black farm workers were duped into pseudo-BEE deals.

Departmental head, Moira Marais, approached the Bloemfontein Supreme Court after the Northern Cape High Court had ruled in favour of the Master of the High Court to confirm that Morwapheta Consulting Services owner, Mpho Sebashe, was hired to investigate the scam and the department had to pay R3.7 million for the service.

Marais appealed the ruling but, in a bizarre twist of events, the matter has been withdrawn.

In the notice of withdrawal the state attorney wrote: “Be pleased to take notice that the applicant in these proceedings hereby withdraws its notice of motion dated 22^nd of March 2024 and no order as to costs.”

The department had been digging its heels about paying Morwapheta Consulting Services. The withdrawal however means that the department must pay.

“in light of these developments,” Sebashe said, “the department is in contempt of court of the High Court which ordered that they must pay me.”

Attempts to get comment from the department proved fruitless. Spokesperson, Bongani Silindile, said he was on leave and the officials he referred The People’s Eye to were also not helpful.

The sorry saga started in 2016 when the Northern Cape government and the national Department of Agriculture an Agri-BEE project in which individual farm labourers were given R800 000 each to buy shares collectively in 22 commercial farming businesses where they worked.

The same was replicated in the Western Cape province.

It is estimated that government collectively paid  more than R100 million to buy shares for the farm workers. It was not until long that the white farm owners allegedly inveigled them into selling their shares back to them for a mere R20 000.

The workers, most of them illiterate, were given documents written in Afrikaans legalese and were told to sign for their dividends. Little did they know they were selling their shares back to the farm owners for R20 000.

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

Northern Cape Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform MEC, Mase Manopole, has been refusing to help the workers. 

Manopole threatened to sue farm worker, 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.

Silindile, has also denied that Manopole had any knowledge of the equity scheme or farm workers who lost their shareholding and even their jobs.

This is despite the existence of records meetings indicating that the provincial department was involved from the beginning, prior to Manopole being appointed MEC.

Silindile said: “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.”