Private lodge man convicted
Kwadapha residents warned
AS MUZI Mthembu entered Ngwavuma Prison last night, residents of KwaDapha in the iSimangaliso World Heritage site, northern KwaZuluNatal, argued over a magistrate’s warnings about illegal developments in the park – and Mthembu’s muti not having worked.
After convicting and sentencing Mthembu for his role in developing a private lodge in the KwaDapha area, Manguzi court magistrate, Martin Groom, turned his attention to the packed public gallery.
“People of KwaDapha, you need to understand that times are changing and your mindsets need to change too,” said Groom.
Mthembu was given a twoyear suspended jail sentence – half of which was suspended for five years – and ordered to either pay a fine of R3 000 or to serve a year’s imprisonment.
Referring to the growing number of cases of unauthorised developments in KwaDapha being brought before the courts, Groom said: “What the government is doing is not a bad thing. It is not trying to take away your land, but trying to preserve and protect it so future generations can enjoy it too.”
KwaDapha – known as Bhanga Nek by tourists – has long had a reputation as a renegade community of sorts.
The latest conflicts largely arise from KwaDapha residents entering partnerships with investors in developing tourism enterprises near the shores of Kosi Bay’s third lake and Bhanga Nek beach.
In Mthembu’s case, a man from Secunda, Jannie Joubert, financed the development of a private lodge comprising three cottages – and a fourth unit under construction.
The court heard that Mthembu and Joubert ignored warnings to stop the development, ultimately resulting in iSimangaliso obtaining a dem- olition order in the Durban High Court, and charges being brought against the men.
Joubert pleaded guilty, but Mthembu refused to admit any wrongdoing, saying he had been given permission to build by the induna, Gilbert Ngubane.
Called as a defence witness, Ngubane said he was in charge of allocating land in KwaDapha for homes and commercial reasons through the Tembe Tribal Council.
He said he had consented to the development of a homestead for the Mthembu family and had been introduced to Joubert as a man who occasionally stayed with Muzi.
Ngubane claimed that he had never been informed about KwaDapha being included in the iSimangaliso World Her- itage Site or that environmental impact assessments (EIAs) needed to be done before authorities could approve developments.
The court rejected this as inconceivable, particularly given the induna’s confession under cross-examination that he had been sent to a workshop on protected areas by iSimangaliso.
Groom said it was obvious that Joubert was “the main man behind the development”.
“You were just being used as a shadow,” Groom told Mthembu. “It would be too drastic to send you straight to prison, but we will make an example of what happens when someone contravenes the law in cases of this nature.”
While contraventions of the Protected Area Act provide for fines of R5 million or five years’ imprisonment, Groom said the court needed to take into account Mthembu’s personal circumstances.
Addressing the KwaDapha residents, Groom said people needed to learn a lesson from this case. “You should not allow people from other places or provinces, who are greedy, self- ish and rich to take over your land, such as Joubert did to Muzi,” Groom said.
Until yesterday, Mthembu had believed that muti might “win the case” for him irrespective of how strong the state’s case was. Unable to pay the fine, Mthembu spent last night in jail in Ngwavuma. – Roving Reporters
Roving Reporters’ coverage of the trial of Muzi Mthembu forms part of a case study, Bhanga Nek Developments and Demolitions supported by the Open Society Foundation and the Taco Kuiper Trust.