PIETERMARITZBURG - WHILE farmers in the Midlands were previously optimistic about sharing land with farm dwellers, the shooting of a mourner, allegedly by farmer Philip Solomon, had reversed gains made on the initiative.
The Otto Bluff farmer accused of murder, appeared in the New Hanover Magistrate’s Court this week, where his bail application was denied. Solomon will remain in Pietermaritzburg’s New Prison. He was arrested on December 31, 2017, charged with murder and attempted murder after he allegedly shot and killed Mothiwa Ngubane, a mourner at a funeral which was taking place on his Cramond Farm.
The 66-year-old farmer had tried to stop a burial which led to a heated argument and culminated in Ngubane’s death. He was shot three times.
Outside the court, Midlands farmer James Martin said Solomon’s actions had dented the gains they had made as white farmers to reach out to farm dwellers.
Gunshots should never have been fired, he said. “It was terrible and unnecessary. A wrong perception has been fuelled by this evil deed,” he said. Martin said the land sharing initiative showed farmers were committed to lend a hand to emerging farmers.
He applauded Magistrate Fikile Luvuno’s”very bright” decision to deny Solomon bail as his release would have caused public unrest. Luvuno said in court Solomon’s life could be threatened after his partner was attacked at their home.
The Upper Midlands Agricultural Transformation Initiative (uMati) project manager Graham Armstrong said it was an isolated incident which left them appalled.
He said the new transformation model of 50/50 part- nership that his non-profit organisation was advocating for could help to defuse tensions between farmers and farm dwellers.
“This isolated case was totally unacceptable, he went to the extremes. But we are not phased by his actions, we will continue building bridges within the farming community. We want to lead the way to show government that social harmony could be achieved through farming together,” Armstrong said.
The 50-50 partnership was the government’s programme where the state bought farms through a structured transaction and incorporated farm dwellers of that farm into the operating company.
KwaZulu-Natal Landless People’s Movement chairperson, Gcino Shabalala, commended the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for its support to transform the farming sector.
He said there will be no employer and employee but everyone will equally benefit from the land.
Meanwhile, more than 1 800 land claims in KwaZulu-Natal remained unsettled, the new chief director in the regional land claims office, advocate Bheka Mbili told the Sunday Tribune.
Mbili said the province’s land restitution process was lagging behind due to lack of resources including the manpower to conduct research within the department.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE