ESwatini sugar corporation denies any role in farmer evictions

The Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC) has denied any knowledge of and involvement in the alleged evictions of smallholder sugar cane growers from land in that country, according to a statement issued by the company.

“We do not own any land in Vuvulane and therefore we do not have [cause] to evict anyone. As a company we subscribe to high standards of governance and we respect the rights and interests of others,” the statement said.

“It is worth mentioning that RSSC has typically maintained a cordial relationship with the communities around it, including farmers in the area. There are other activities that Vuvulane and surrounding communities continue to enjoy as a result of the positive relations between RSSC and these communities.”

The Swaziland Justice Forum, which describes itself as a group of academics in eSwatini and the diaspora who are concerned about and fighting against human rights abuses in the kingdom, told Farmer’s Weekly that the statement contained a number of inconsistencies.

Eviction notices bearing the RSSC letterhead were reportedly being issued to the Vuvulane community, and contrary to the statement that it did not own land in Vuvulane, it had been found that the RSSC “owns multiple portions of Farm 860, including areas that local farmers describe as falling within the original boundaries of Vuvulane”.

The forum also said that “multiple testimonies show the Vuvulane farmers consider their relations with the RSSC [to be] far from cordial”.

“The [RSSC] statement does not address the historical evictions of communities from Simunye, which today forms the RSSC’s main sugar estate. If the RSSC is serious about its denials, it should establish a genuinely independent and impartial inquiry to establish the facts and to root out the truth about the RSSC’s involvement,” the forum said. – Lloyd Phillips