Access to water and electricity, deteriorating housing, alleged harassment and eviction threats are just a few of the issues that about 10 families living on Bellevue Farm on the R44 in Paarl have been complaining about since the farm's new owner took over.
Eunice Ngwaqa, 75, who has lived at Bellevue Farm since the 1960s, said her life has changed for the worse since the new farm owner, advocate Mervyn Doralingo, took over the farm. The grandmother of three said that, come sunshine or rain, she is forced to go outside to cook after Doralingo took over the farm. She says he has cut off the electricity and prevented them from accessing borehole water from the communal tap.
"I grew up on this farm, my whole life I have lived here, but now I am living without hope as I don't know when he will evict us. I am struggling. My grandchildren had to leave this place because of the conditions we live in. We don’t know what we have done to this man, he does not even employ us at the farm," said Ngwaqa.
Ngwaqa accused Doralingo of harassing them with the police and that many residents have already been arrested due to them, and accused them of stealing the chickens, which are the primary source of income for the farm.
"I have been at the house since 1960, I grew up here, and if he sends us away, I have no other place to go, I am old and tired," she said.
Liezel Julies, 41, said she has lived at the farm for 23 years and that Doralingo violated her rights by arresting her for a crime she says she never committed.
"He harasses us with the police. He said I assaulted a security guard, I never did that. All I wanted was access to my house, which he is preventing us from entering," she said.
Julies said Doralingo has locked the farm gates, preventing them access to the farm; as a result, ambulances and cars find it very difficult to enter the farm.
Doralingo dismissed all the allegations, stating that he is the one who has been a victim.
He said he acquired the farm through a 30-year lease agreement with the government, and that he operates it through a company in which he is a sole director, Sibeko Agri Marketing.
He said when he met the previous owner of the farm about 10 years ago, he found the farm bankrupt and came with his own financial means to help keep it running.
"Before the previous owner, who unfortunately passed away, it had the electricity switched off, because he couldn’t pay it anymore. I came in and made an agreement with the rural department (Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development) and paid R20 000. When I took over with the invitation of the state, I called countless residents, explaining the condition of the farm and that we all needed to share responsibility and pay for electricity and water," said Doralingo.
He said none of the people who accuse him are employees of the farm, and yet they have been making his life and business very difficult by stealing chickens and vandalising the infrastructure on the farm, hence the reason he has 24-hour security.
"These people are all working (elsewhere), and I don’t see why they don’t want to contribute to paying for electricity after I have tried many interventions. I am not the government, and I do not provide services. I don’t substitute for the responsibility of the government, the government must provide water and electricity," he said.
He said there has never been electricity in the houses the farm dwellers occupy, meter boxes were installed, but they bypass them to steal electricity.
"The houses these people are staying at are not fit for human habitation. I will never even keep my animals there, all I want is for them to get proper houses. I think the government has failed them and that they need to take up the housing issue with the government, as I have tried various interventions in this regard," said Doralingo.
He said when he started, he bought 5 000 chickens, and they stole half of the chickens.
"I have about 24 cases opened against some of these people for reasons such as stock theft and selling illegal alcohol and drugs, I am being defamed only because I am interfering in their illegal activities. I have to put up security gates for my own, and their protection," said Doralingo.
Farm activist Alvina Abrahams, who has vowed to assist the farm dwellers, said South African farmers are very cruel. They want to remove the people from their farms to make way for lucrative businesses such as resorts.
"The government must stop selling or giving away farms to people who have no interest in farming because the lives of ordinary people on the farms get distorted. People can’t be living like animals in such conditions, even some animals are better off than this. We call upon Doralingo to stop this harassment, or else we will do everything in our power to ensure he does," said Abrahams.
She said she calls upon the government to come and intervene on this issue and find solutions before things get out of hand.