R43m dairy farm collapse leaves Mantusini community struggling
As the country commemorates 70-years of the Freedom Charter, Eyewitness News travelled to Port St Johns to see what has been described as a failed land reform project.
The farm has been looted for parts, there is no longer a fence, the milk stations are all broken. Sphamandla Dlamini
EASTERN CAPE - Some residents of Mantusini Village have been left destitute following the collapse of a R43 million dairy farm that was intended to uplift the community.
Launched in 2016 by the Eastern Cape government in partnership with private companies, the project promised jobs and economic development, but it quickly fell apart amid mounting allegations of corruption.
As the country commemorates 70-years of the Freedom Charter, Eyewitness News travelled to Port St Johns to see what has been described as a failed land reform project.
When the dairy farm was established, the community was overjoyed. Each house was assigned two cows, one to milk and another to sell-off when their children were of University age.
One of the beneficiaries, Mzwandile Sbonda, described how it first started.
“It was very beautiful. We used to milk the cows here, the cows used to graze there and we would fill up those tanks to the brim with milk.”
Sbonda said during this time, the community didn’t benefit a cent and was told to be patient.
“When we asked where the milk was going, we were told it was going to East London and that’s where it ended.”
According to Sbonda, things went downhill very fast following devastating floods in 2019 and many cows dying under a mysterious disease.
The private investors pulled out of the farm with some angry community members vandalising it.
The farm has been looted for parts, there is no longer a fence, the milk stations are all broken – a stark contrast to the bustling business enterprise it once was.
The DA has called for an investigation into the matter while Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said he was still waiting for a report on what went wrong.