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Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, has missed the deadline to publish the report into an investigation that was supposedly conducted by her Department on the circumstances that led to the issuance of an eviction order against Mr Ivan Cloete, on his Colenso farm in Darling. Didiza had made an undertaking to release the report by the end of February 2021.

Having always maintained the position that the victimisation of Cloete was an infringement on his rights as a famer, the DA will be reporting his unfair treatment by the Department to the South Africa Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). After bundling its own processes and shunting Cloete from one farm to another, the Department took the unprecedented step to try and drive Cloete completely out of farming by threatening him with an eviction order.

By its own admission, the Department may have violated a lease agreement it had with Mr Cloete under the land reform programme. In a radio interview last month, the Deputy Minister of DALRRD, Mcebisi Skwatsha, admitted that the Department may have flouted the 30 year lease agreement it has with Mr Cloete through administrative bundling.

The question that arises is why the Department proceeded to invite fresh new applications on a farm in which it already had an active lease agreement in place. By violating the terms of the lease agreement it had with Mr Cloete, the process that the Department pursued to allocate the farm to new occupants became procedurally and administratively flawed, rendering it unenforceable.

When Mr Cloete was moved from the Gelukwaarts farm in Porteville, a meeting between Departmental officials and Skwatsha, held at the Deputy Minister’s offices, resolved that the allocation of the Colenso farm to Mr Cloete be based on “settling of a dispute”. The resolution further added that the allocation was to be made without the need for a selection process as per the allocation process. The Department’s sudden U-turn and attempt to opt-out of a dispute settlement with Mr Cloete, with regards to the Colenso farm, borders on illegality and makes a mockery to equitable land reform.

The delay in issuing a report on the Cloete matter is evidence of a Department that has tied itself in knots and is unable to admit that it erred in trying to evict Cloete from the Colenso farm. The DA looks forward to a timely conclusion of the SAHRC investigation so that Mr Cloete can continue with his farming activities without further interference.

Issued by DA