January Madisa, 46, says his family has lived on Waterval Farm in Dithabeng, Mpumalanga, for more than a century, but are allegedly being systematically and brutally driven off the land.
His maternal great-grandmother and grandmother were both born and buried on the farm.
Madisa said generations of his family worked on the land without wages, paying with their labour for the right to live there, rear livestock and plough their fields.
He added several farmers came and went over the years without troubling them or interfering in their lives.
Change in ownership sparks conflict
But Madisa said everything changed in 2022 when the current farmer, whose name is known to The Citizen, arrived.
“He introduced himself as the new owner and promised we could stay and continue grazing and ploughing fields.
“Two days later, we were instructed to reduce our kraals and fields and, eventually, were given three months to leave,” he said.
Allegations of intimidation and destruction
Madisa said the situation escalated, with their grazing set alight while cattle were grazing, deep trenches dug around their homestead and electric fencing was put up around their home, cutting off access to grazing land and the family gravesite.
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When Madisa’s mom died in September 2023, the family was allegedly prevented from burying her at the ancestral graves and forced to bury her within their homestead.
Madisa said their herd was reduced from 73 cattle to 17, while 45 goats were wiped out after being poisoned or shot.
Similar claims from other families
Similar allegations have been made by the Sibanyoni family, who say they were forced to leave in 2023 after threats were made against their children.
Family head Mthandeni Sibanyoni, 75, said he initially remained on the homestead, visiting his family weekly in Kwaggafontein.
In March 2024, he returned to find the homestead burning.
“What used to be a happy home is now a ruin. I had more than 50 head of cattle but, today, I have nothing,” he lamented.
Sibanyoni said the common element in their suffering was the farmer, whom they accuse of using a local vigilante group to carry out attacks to force them off the land.
The farmer allegedly accused them of stock theft. Attempts to get comment from the farmer were unsuccessful.
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