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MBABANE - Nineteen occupants of a farm which is owned by Mahamba Gorge (PTY) Limited have approached the High Court, on an urgent basis, after 202 of their cattle were allegedly confiscated by security guards on instruction of the former.

The security guards from K9 Security Company (PTY) Limited were reportedly armed when they accosted the residents to seize their cattle.

The aggrieved residents of Mbondzela in the Shiselweni Region stay on Farm Johannesloop No.19, which is owned by Mahamba Gorge (PTY) Limited.

Mahamba Gorge (PTY) Limited is the first respondent in the matter, while the security company is the second.

The residents want the court to direct Mahamba Gorge (PTY) Limited and the security company to restore possession of their cattle to them. Through their attorney Ben J Simelane, the applicants told the court that the urgency of the matter lied in the fact that the respondents allegedly used violence to unlawfully take their cattle.

Possession

According to the applicants, the respondents reportedly used self-help to gain possession of the cattle as they had no court order or consent from them.

It was their contention that this had a potential of a disaster, in that they could equally resort to such violence, something that should be discouraged at all costs.

“The cattle are not looked after and are far too many for the enclosure they are confided into. The cattle may die while in possession of the respondents and, thereby, creating further tension and causing irreparable harm to the applicants,” argued the applicants’ attorney.

In his founding affidavit, one of the applicants, Thulani Lukhele, informed the court that on February 26, 2023, security guards from K9 Security firm tried to drive out their cattle, but the community members resisted the attempted dispossession.

He alleged that prior to that, the first respondent wrote and delivered a letter dated February 21, 2023, wherein it allegedly threatened to confiscate their livestock. In the letter annexed to the court papers, Mahamba Gorge (PTY) Limited told the residents to remove their cattle from the farm before February 25, 2023, failing which they would be confiscated.

In the letter, Mahamba Gorge (PTY) Limited alleged that there had been numerous cases of theft and malicious destruction of property, including the torching of a warehouse valued at E3 million.

The matter was before Judge Mzwandile Fakudze who postponed it to March 14, 2023 for argument.