A convoy of excavators, graders and cars with tinted windows moved in on several small farms north of Durban this week - and flattened the sugar-cane crops.
It was yet another invasion of their land in nine months, said the small-scale farmers of Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal. They did not know the land invaders. One of the farmers called the police, who failed to arrive.
The farmers are among 45 third-generation farmers, fighting to keep their land in the Tea Estate area. They said their plots were being illegally sold at a rapid rate - allegedly by the local chief, Mqoqi Ngcobo, and his five headmen.The Tea Estate Farming Organisation approached the High Court in Durban in December to interdict Ngcobo and his indunas from selling land to which the farmers say they hold the title deeds. The matter is scheduled to be heard in June.
Many of the farmers inherited the land from their forebears, who were indentured labourers. They said that since parliament last week passed the EFF's motion to amend the constitution to make expropriation of land without compensation possible, the problem of land invasion had worsened. They said the land grabs had started in 2015, but had accelerated last year "with the talk of land expropriation".
Anand Moonsamy, the organisation's secretary, said: "It is now in full force following last week's vote."
He said the invaders had become so brazen that excavators were being sent daily to clear crop fields to make way for houses. The excavations were monitored by unidentified men whom the farmers did not want to confront for fear of their safety.
Two weeks ago, the farmers approached the court to urgently intervene - before June - to "possibly avoid the potentially dangerous consequences of a direct conflict".
In court documents, the organisation said: "The tension between the applicant's members and members of the community associated with the respondent is also escalating to such an extent that the applicant reasonably fears for the personal safety and security of its members."Ngcobo, the chief of the AmaQadi tribe and head of the Qadi traditional council, said in a responding affidavit that there was no connection between the land invasions and his tribal council.
"I have never instructed anyone to sell any property. The only property that has been allocated to individuals are those within the tribal community,"
He said the farmers were advised to target the people who invaded their properties instead of dragging his name through the mud.
The farmers are now in a "dire situation" after the matter was adjourned for the organisation to supply dimensions of each farm and to finalise the joinder of individual farmers as co-applicants.
At a meeting on Wednesday, Umdloti Farmers' Association chairman Willie Naicker said the cost for private security would exceed R90,000 a month.
"The farmers have already lost more than R3-million from crops that have been destroyed by the illegal land grabs. We were harvesting about 25,000 to 30,000 tons of sugar cane; now we won't even be lucky to get 7,000 tons. There are no predictions for harvesting. We have contracts with the sugar industry which need to be honoured."Our workers are being intimidated, our safety is being compromised and police and all other relevant authorities, including our councillors, are unable to help us since 2015."
Pointing to flattened sugar cane, a farm worker told the Sunday Times that he was concerned about losing his job.
"I planted this and now it's all gone. If the farm is losing money, then I won't have a job," he said.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokeswoman Nqobile Gwala said police had been called out following complaints of land grabs.
"Police approached a male who was on site who produced documents saying that he had purchased the land from the local inkosi."
She said the farmers in the Tea Estate area had opened numerous cases of land invasion, which were under investigation.
This week a piece of land within the Tea Estate area was advertised on Facebook, allegedly without the owner's knowledge.
Thaban Hlomuka posted a photograph of a 30m² plot for sale at R65,000. In his post in the Hillcrest Classifieds group, Hlomuka said legal paper work was available. When approached for comment, he refused to say who owned the land, and has removed the post...