BLF steps in to help Sodwana elders ‘lodge’ a complaint
● The “occupation” of a tourist establishment’s annual general meeting by Black First Land First (BLF) members in the popular town of Sodwana on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal was triggered by a community’s campaign to fight for what is “rightfully ours”.
The Mbila Tribal Authority (MTA) in Mbazwana, which signed a shareholder agreement with property company Ovland in 1989 for Sodwana Bay Lodge, claimed shares have been “misappropriated” — and enlisted BLF to retrieve them.
The MTA claims that, according to the agreement, the authority, governed by the Ingonyama Trust, is the majority shareholder of the property, which includes 40 wholly owned units, 24 time-share sleepers and the lodge, which comprises 22 chalets, a restaurant and conference facility.
MTA deputy chair Alson Ncube told the Sunday Times the lodge owner, Richard Scott, had refused to provide documentation proving a lease agreement for the chalets, restaurant, bar and conference venue.
“We do not have those documents and neither do they. Long ago there was an agreement between the authority and the Sodwana Bay Lodge that the two entities would work side by side to run the lodge. The agreement was that the community would oversee the day-to-day running of the lodge, while they [the board of directors] would merely support the lodge and bring development to the area. But because they knew more about tourism than we did, they started claiming ownership of the chalets and leasing them to tourists.”
The share ownership matter was raised during an AGM in 2019 and two board members were tasked to investigate and report back.
According to the minutes of a meeting in October last year, the board was informed that the shares belonged to the MTA. This was contested by Scott, who claimed ownership.
Benjamin Zikhali, an induna and representative of the MTA, said: “We gave [Scott] first preference in renting and running his business there. He was given 14 days to respond and he did not.”
Mqhawe Zondo, a board director who convened an AGM in January attended by BLF members, said a vote had been taken that the shares be returned to the authority.
Zondo said the MTA decided to lease a portion to the BLF on the basis of a 12-month lease agreement that was concluded towards the end of March.
“Claims that BLF members had expropriated the land on which the lodge is situated are misleading. In this case they occupied the premises in terms of their lease agreement.”
However, in a letter e-mailed to shareholders on April 22, the board said the January AGM was being disputed legally.
It said attempts to address the missing shares and ownership issue at an AGM on April 16 were postponed to the next day following security concerns over BLF “occupation at the lodge”.
However, on April 17 the AGM was adjourned following disruptions by Zondo and BLF representatives.
The board claimed that Scott had successfully sought an interdict to reverse the BLF occupation at the hotel.
Scott initially agreed to put the Sunday Times in contact with his attorney but did not, despite messages and calls made to him to follow up.
Hotel manager Herman Combrinck referred the Sunday Times to Scott.
BLF leader Andile Mngxitama said they had not seen the interdict but understood that it deals with “disruptions” at the hotel.
“It is an interim order, it has nothing to do with disputing ownership. It is a general court order to stop disrupting operations at the hotel.
“We are not interested in disrupting hotels — we are taking back hotels and we want to run them as successful business consortiums,” he said.
He said BLF had worked with the MTA to ensure that the “theft” of shares was dealt with and ownership restored.