Residents of Palmietfontein Farm outside Ventersdorp have made an urgent plea for the government to relocate them from the privately owned farm because they are being denied access to government services by the farm owner. Here residents do not have basic services and cannot bury their loved ones without permission because the land owner has a court order that forbids them from burying anyone or making any developments on the land.
One resident, Tshepo Kopakae, described their living conditions as appalling.
“The area stinks because of the pig waste coming out of the farm. The owner chased away municipal officials who were here to erect toilets for us.
“He even stopped the Land Affairs [Department] from building us decent houses, saying he does not want any development on his land,” Kopakae said. Residents do not have electricity and the local municipality refills their water tank once a month, said Kopakae. He made a passionate plea for the government to help. “The land owner is constructively kicking us out, but we also want to leave because we cannot live like this,” he said. The Department of Land Reform’s Project Coordinator, John Mashaba, said the government would do everything in its power to relocate the residents.
“We are in talks with another farmer near where this community stays. He has already agreed to sell us his land. “We will then transfer the land to the municipality so that housing projects and other services can start. We hope to relocate them soon,” he said.
The aggrieved residents worked as farmworkers for the previous owner of the same farm. After the farm was sold in 2018 the new owner did not include them in his plan, leaving them unemployed. Many have been occupying that land for over 30 years.
