MK veterans and mayor in battle over cattle

MEMBERS of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association, who farm in a cooperative near Kokstad, are at odds with King Sabata Dalindyebo mayor Dumani Zozo over livestock they claim he donated to them.

The military veterans accuse the mayor of removing more than 40 head of cattle from the MKVA cooperative based in Cedarville, near Matatiele.

They claim all the cows bear their brand, not the mayor’s.

But Zozo says it would be absurd for anyone to think he would donate that many cattle, which he sweated for over the many years he has worked as a civil servant.

The mayor, who said he had entered into an agreement with the veterans just to graze his cattle on their farm, said the cattle belonged to him, and accused the military veterans of slaughtering some of them without his permission.

He said this had prompted his decision to remove the rest of his cattle.

The Daily Dispatch visited the farm, located about 50km from Cedarville, and met with Kela Farm cooperative chairman and ex-MK commander Ronnie Matshaya.

Matshaya said the 2 800ha farm was given to a cooperative of MK veterans by rural development and land reform minister Gugile Nkwinti in 2003.

It features some infrastructure, a few dams and some disused implements, which Matshaya said were there when they took over the farm.

A handful of military veterans were on site, complaining that there was no clean running water and no electricity, saying this impacted negatively on the utilisation of the farm.

Zozo said: “I was employed in the department of education and I used my pension payouts to buy the cattle as an investment for my children.

“That is my livestock and, when I went to pick up my stock I was driving my own bakkie, not a state vehicle which is what is being claimed.”

Zozo claimed all the cattle he removed had his branding, registered with the department of agriculture under his name.

But the veterans’ legal adviser, advocate Sindiso Matotie, said his clients have “concrete evidence” that the livestock was donated to the military veterans.

“The cows bear brand marks of the veterans,” said Matotie. —