Fire of discontent burns all in its path
Townships, farmers have frustration with the state in common
● On the face of it, 19-year-old Thandeka Nonzama and farmer Hansie Labuschagne have little in common. She lives in a township with limited basic services, and he runs a successful farm. But this week their worlds collided as fires ravaged the western Free State.
As Labuschagne contemplated the pit where he buried the cattle killed by flames and smoke, Nonzama stood in the dock of the Hertzogville magistrate’s court.
Both are anxious about the future — Labuschagne because his farming operation is in peril, Nonzama because she could end up with a criminal record.
A service delivery protest in which she was involved led to the fire on Labuschagne’s farm.
When the Sunday Times visited the area this week, Labuschagne pointed out the disturbed earth where the cattle are buried.
The fires erupted — accidentally, by all accounts — as a result of protests in the Male
bogo township over lack of water provision.
Jannes de Jager, community safety co-ordinator in Hertzogville, described what happened at the protests last Sunday.
“People started protesting and burnt tyres, tanks and other things. The wind was strong at that time. Where they burnt one of the tyres, the wind picked it up and threw it about 20m from the spot.
“That’s when the fire that spread about 40km started,” De Jager said.
Since then, more than 30,000ha of land has been ravaged, with losses in the millions
of rands, including the deaths of hundreds of cattle and other livestock. Farm buildings have been razed, and there are fears of job losses as farmers count the cost and try to pick up the pieces.
Racial tension is smoldering; some white farmers feel under siege from those who regard them as the “haves” and themselves as the “have-nots”.
“You see it and you feel it,” said Johan du Plessis, a lawyer turned farmer, who lost 30 cattle, including animals that produced sought-after wagyu beef, in the flames.
“They feel cross about me, who has money, because they don’t have any and the government is too corrupt and poor to help them. What am I supposed to do? I don’t know how to handle it,” he said.
“For me it’s much easier because I can make a living, even though I have lost R3m, I can still look after my wife and kids. So how can I know how they feel?”
Du Plessis fears the tension will escalate, and farmers are powerless to stop it.
But Ratholoana Monyane, a community co-ordinator in the township, said residents were angry not with the farmers but with the local municipality.
“This is a small town,” Monyane said. “Apartheid and white dominance prevails. Some white people are conservative and believe black people are inferior to them, but there’s no resistance from black people.
“The majority of people here work at the farms. They take whatever treatment they get because they have no choice.
“But it’s misleading to say white people are under attack in this area. They are just trying to create a narrative. This protest was about poor service delivery,” Monyane said.
The white farmers and the black township dwellers have that much in common — both groups feel the government is neglecting them and ignoring their concerns.
“Nothing is being done about the frustrations of people in the township,” Monyane said. “They don’t have basic things like water. And white farmers feel vulnerable. Nothing is being done, too.”
Nonzama will be back in court on November 5 to face charges of malicious damage to property and public violence arising from the protest. She is one of 17 people charged.
She’s worried about what a criminal record might mean for her future.
“I don’t know what is next for me, but I might not have a bright future because of this. My mother had to seek urgent financial help from a loan shark to pay my R1,000 bail. Sunday night and Monday were the worst nights of my life.
“I feared for my life. The holding cells were scary, stinky and too hot. I’m traumatised by what happened. I never thought I would be arrested this young. My life is already hard. I can’t afford to have a criminal record. It will make my life harder,” Nonzama said.