SANDILE MOTHA
RETRENCHED Tongaat Hullet farmworkers find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Not only did these workers lose their livelihoods, but the KwaDukuza local municipality on the KwaZulu Natal north coast is now evicting them from the land which they have erected their shacks on.
The municipality says the piece of land is earmarked for low cost housing development.
Senzo Mtolo, speaking to Inside Metro on behalf of the retrenched workers said they decided to settle on the land after being evicted from the compounds owned by Tongaat Hullet following the unprecedented jobs shedding earlier this year.
“I’m a second generation of children in my family who were born and raised on the farm. I lived in the compound my entire childhood and as I became a teenager I was employed by the farm. Most of us never imagined that one day we would be evicted from the farm, it had become our permanent home,” explains Mtolo.
He said a group of about 80 families with their children decided to build shacks in the eThafeni informal settlement. He said the main reason for settling on the land was to ensure the continuation of schooling for children who are attending local schools.
“Since we lost our jobs, the proximity of the area to the Ballito suburb and the shopping mall would able most of us to get piece jobs and continue feeding our families. Families in this area are struggling and rely on piece jobs and we have no other place to go,” lamented Mtolo.
He said the municipality had evicted them despite the matter being a subject of court.
“The case should have been heard in April but due to the corona outbreak it was adjourned for September,” he said.
Mtolo and others were the latest to join a long list of workers who have lost their jobs at the sugar and property group. In February the company announced that it will be closing its Darnall Sugar Mill near KwaDukuza.
More than 500 workers lost their jobs as a result. Last year the company laid off more than 6000 workers from various farms around uThongathi area. This announcement was a trickledown effect following shenanigans at South African international retail holding company Steinhoff.
Steinhoff made headlines last year, reporting that it had recorded a loss of more than R200 billion in the market value as a result of accounting irregularities. Tongaat Hulett was one of their victims. For workers, this meant they had not lost only a source of income but their accommodation as well. Most of them were born and raised in the farm and the compounds is the only place they called home.
Another concerned resident, Nosihe Chibi said it was more harder for shack dwellers with children.
“ If I was alone with no children I would have long left this area. So I need to ensure that they have a shelter and on top of that they must eat. The municipality is adding to our problems. It is like playing a cat and mouse game where they come and demolish and we rebuild again,” said Chibi.
Asked to clarify on the reasons behind the evictions, KwaDukuza spokesperson Sipho Mkhize defined the matter as sensitive.
“ KDM wishes to reserve its right on the matter as it is sub judice.” (Compiled by Inside Metros staff)