R4-million in state money given to what is now derelict farm

It was once a flourishing farm where fields of cabbages were cultivated, and many pigs were bred.

Now it is derelict and virtually abandoned.

Hill View farm is situated in a farming area in Cambridge, East London. The Gonubie River runs through the property. It was one of the biggest cabbage farms in the region and once boasted more than 200 pigs in its piggery.

Today the fields are overgrown with weeds. For years now not a single cabbage has been grown on the farm.

story_article_left1

The concrete pigsties with space for dozens have only five underfed, sad-looking specimens.

Yet a prominent Eastern Cape lawyer received close to R4-million in state money to keep it running as a going concern, and to live on the land.

Vukile Magqabi is at the centre of the scandal. He stands accused of mismanaging the farm, and now the government wants it back.

Magqabi has since been appointed as a magistrate and lives in Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal - more than 600km away. He drives an expensive Porsche Cayenne SUV. Meanwhile, the farm for which he received millions has become a disgrace.

The main house is abandoned and has no furniture. The front porch is fouled with animal dung. Damaged water tanks and farm equipment are strewn all over the premises.

The farm was bought by the Department of Land Affairs as part of a programme launched in August 2001 to redistribute land for agricultural development. It was bought for R8-million in 2008 and then leased to Magqabi.

Hillview is one of about 30 farms in the region that were redistributed to black farmers.

Former farm manager Mzingisi Mpiti told the Sunday Times this week that in April 2015, Magqabi had asked him to help to manage and revive the farm.

"We drove from Bloemfontein to East London to see the farm. In May I travelled back to start running the farm. I basically oversaw the management. I had two guys that work with me and we had 100 pigs. I had to collect feed for them and we cleaned the farm as it was in a bad state."

full_story_image_hright1

Mpiti said he had engaged a pig specialist from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to help with the programme to feed and supply medicine for the pigs.

There were 8ha of land that needed to be prepared for ploughing, and he consulted a land specialist.

"He came to see the land and had a business plan prepared. We were to cultivate cabbages as the farm has been successful in cabbages before.

"When I submitted the business plan to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for grant funding, it was rejected. Their claim was there had been a misuse of almost R4-million of funds they have put in that farm. Not a single cabbage was ever harvested on that farm," said Mpiti.

The farm was still under Magqabi's control even after these gross failures, he said.

block_quotes_start The fact that Mr Magqabi has been found to have absconded the farm, was used as one of the grounds for termination of his lease agreement block_quotes_end

"He is a magistrate based in Greytown, although he knows that if you run a farm you can't be in state employment ... the department knew that. I confronted him about all this ... I lost my own money in this farm. He could not pay the agreed salary and we lost the revenue of almost R400,000 on cabbages," said Mpiti.

Templeton Yoba, of Templeton's Farming Solutions, which provided assistance for the farm, said "things were not good" when he visited it.

"The manager said he was not getting support and was complaining," Yoba said.

The Sunday Times visited the farm twice this week. Apart from antelope wandering through shoulder-high weeds, there was little sign of life. Farm-labourer cottages had been abandoned. A borehole pump was rusted and in pieces.

mini_story_image_hright2

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform accuses Magqabi of "absconding" from the farm and is in the process of repossessing it to hand over to another beneficiary.

Department of Rural Development and Land Reform spokeswoman Linda Page said: "In terms of the state land lease and disposal policy of the department, the lessee is supposed to be in occupation of the farm and utilise the farm to its full potential.

"In this case, the fact that Mr Magqabi has been found to have absconded the farm, was used as one of the grounds for termination of his lease agreement."

She said the department was in the process of re-allocating the farm to another beneficiary and the agreed date of handover by Magqabi was January 30.

Page said the government had spent R9-billion to acquire about 1,600 farms since 2009.

Last year the Sunday Times reported how Louis van Schoor, a man who murdered 39 black people between 1986 and 1989 while employed as a security guard in East London, was a director and beneficiary of a dairy farm project meant to empower black people.

Van Schoor's Kingsdale Dairy Farm was bought by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in 2011 for R11-million.

Asked for comment this week, Magqabi dismissed assertions that he had misused funds intended for the farm. He also seemed unaware of the state of his farm.

story_article_left2

"Mzingisi is a guy I know. He was my brother's friend. But the problems started when we didn't get enough resources," said Magqabi.

He confirmed that in 2014 he was appointed as a magistrate.

Mpiti wanted to be closer to his child when he agreed to manage the farm, he said.

"He wanted to be closer to East London. The farm is not abandoned. We are busy with pigs now. That is the main thing," said Magqabi.

He accused Mpiti of "blackmailing" him and threatening to go to the newspapers.

"This is a guy with a beef. I don't know what to say, really.

"When I got the farm it had nothing. I boosted it. He was doing his own business and not farm business," said Magqabi.

ndenzeb@timesmedia.co.za