A pensioner forced by thugs to abandon the farm he was raised on, purchased by the government for R5.6m for restitution in the Eastern Cape, is getting a helping hand after his plight was disclosed by the Sunday Times.
Kauphile Panyaza, 64, has been living in a cramped RDP house in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, after the state purchased the dairy farm in 2011 he called home for more than 50 years after being born there — only for it to be looted and destroyed.
Fourteen years ago the department of rural development and land reform spent R5.6m on 546ha Eversley Farm in Qumrha. Today the farm lies fallow. It was leased to a tenant who allegedly vandalised the property and sold about 80 dairy cows and equipment between 2011 and 2016.
Tensions escalated later when an illegal occupier “invaded” the farm, and the department has battled for more than five years to evict him. Six other families, some with relatives buried on the land, were also displaced.
Panyaza’s wife Zolisa — who had spearheaded the fight to have the farm returned to former workers — was shot dead on the land in September 2021 along with their 20-year-old son Xolisa. She had previously been raped by intruders. Panyaza was kidnapped and assaulted.
No arrests were made over the murders, according to Panyaza.
On Wednesday outgoing DA deputy spokesperson on land reform Bonginkosi Madikizela and his replacement Matlhodi Maseko invited Panyaza and his daughter Zizipho to parliament, where Eversley Farm had previously come under scrutiny. Panyaza said he moved to Khayelitsha to be closer to parliament, hoping his voice would be heard.
Maseko described the family’s plight as “painful” and vowed to hold officials accountable, noting that nothing had come of the rape, kidnapping, assault and murder cases. She said she would rope in Ian Cameron, chair of the parliamentary police committee, to follow up with SAPS.
“We will investigate what happened to those cases. This tragedy could have been avoided had the authorities acted,” she said.
“My concern is that the police should have dealt with this. This woman’s death and her son’s could have been prevented. That is why I want to involve Ian. We need to trace everyone who was involved.”
We want justice. We need to know who killed my family. The department must explain what is happening at the farm. We would like to return. It’s the only home we know
— Zizipho, daughter of Kauphile Panyaza
Zizipho told MPs her mother, who held a departmental “long occupancy” certificate, was targeted for being “very strong”. She also recounted how she had been raped.
“In May 2021 one of my younger brothers was kidnapped but managed to escape. The kidnappers told him, ‘We don’t want to kill you, we want to kill your mother.’ A case was opened but nothing happened,” she said.
In September 2021 her then 12-year-old sister phoned to say: “Please don’t cry. Mom is dead.”
“I dropped the call. When I called back, she said, ‘Mom has been shot.’ When I asked about my brother Xolisa, I was told, ‘He has also been shot.’”
Her youngest sister survived by hiding from the attackers, she said.
“I can only say it was God who saved her. She could hear them asking, ‘Where is the little one?’ And another answered, ‘I can’t find her.’ They were there to kill all of them. My other brother survived only because he was away on a school camp.”
Zizipho said the family longed to return: “My younger sister said she would love to go back home. That’s where she feels connected to my mother.”
As she spoke, Panyaza sat hunched and dispirited.
“We want justice. We need to know who killed my family. The department must explain what is happening at the farm. We would like to return. It’s the only home we know.”
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