HAZYVIEW – The emotional saga between the trustees and beneficiaries of the Sandford Community Trust has reached new ground, following the election of 15 new trustees, after years of internal strife.
However, the current state of certain land portions on the reinstituted Sandford Farm has also recently come under the spotlight with alleged mismanagement and strife halting a smooth transition for the time being.
On the one side, the dilapidated state of the Sunbird Guest Lodge on the Sandford Farm 291 KU is a harsh reminder of the possible result of mismanagement of reinstituted land rights. The Hippo Hollow and Elephant Whispers which are located on adjacent land, showcase a picture of prosperity.
This has angered beneficiaries who have not been able to reap fruit from an approximate R100 million claim as land has been leased to third parties.
“The trust as an entity has the right to act on behalf of the members on these decisions,” said Mr Riebs Khoza, secretary of the trust. The founder, Chief Steven Mogane and concerned beneficiaries have now lodged allegations against the old trustees with a vote of no confidence.
Some of these allegations include allowing assets of the trust to be vandalised, failure to submit annual financial statements to
the beneficiaries, failure to account for
R10,3 million government money paid into the account of legal representatives, as well as excluding co-trustees in decision making regarding the assets of the trust.
Khoza responded to the allegations with forthright claims of his own.
“Assets of the trust must be protected for beneficiaries’ sake as stipulated in the trust deed.
Some beneficiaries vandalised and mismanaged assets in order to render the trust non-effective,” he stated. According to Khoza the trust audits all financial statements but beneficiaries have disrupted attempts to present the statements.
“It is also a blatant lie that the trust paid money in the account of our legal representative.
All trustees, including chief Mogane and co-trustees Mr Mpho Mokoena and Mr Phineas Mashile, drew a monthly stipend from the trust for duties performed,” he said.
Mogane also bemoaned the vandalism at Sunbird. “It was renovated last year, but over the past couple of months it has turned into a disaster. We have had a lot of problems with vandalism,” he said.
“We cannot even utilise the chicken farms or other agriculture portions for the beneficiaries’ benefit until the new trustees are officially registered,” he added. Mogane also believes that some of the trustees are deliberately halting the beneficiaries’ progress.
According to him, the beneficiaries have also been denied access to the land portions and have been arrested for trespassing.
Mr André Kotzé, general manager of Elephant Whispers, which is leased on the Sandford Farm, also mentioned that the beneficiaries were arrested in 2007.
“They were responsible for most of the vandalism. I have had tourists here and then they stormed in with vuvuzelas, posing a danger to them.”
A concerned beneficiary, who opted to remain anonymous, also mentioned that the trustees had used the trust’s money in legal battles to protect themselves.
A High Court order dated December 2007 clearly states that the trust must create mechanisms to liaise with the government through the Land Claims Commission to protect the land that was acquired by the trust for all beneficiaries.
According to the Sandford Community Trust’s annual report of 2013/14, even the smallest financial benefit was mainly used to cover legal costs instead of developing the land and creating the most essential opportunities for a better life.
According to Mr Sandile Matyeka, legal representative for the concerned beneficiaries, the new trustees now need to apply to the Master of the High Court to officially register them.
A general meeting of the Sandford Community Trust has been scheduled at the Mbombela Local Municipality offices in Hazyview on May 24, 2015 to further establish the way forward.
Background on the Sandford Community Trust
• It was established in 2003 after the deputy minister of land affairs handed over the title deeds to the founder of the trust, Chief Steven Mogane.
• Mogane nominated 10 trustees to serve in the original trust, but replaced three of them on December 14, 2004 at Redridge Farm. The current general secretary Mr Riebs Khoza, Mr Frank Mgwenya, and Ms Margareth Nyundu were elected and added to the trust. Khoza was co-opted to assist Mogane as he was known to investors.
• The trust claimed 85 land portions covering an area. Some of these portions still have to be allocated to the Sandford Community Trust with water rights also a lingering issue.
Click here for more images of the dilapidated buildings
Read more here on the previous elections regarding the Sandford Community Trust:
https://www.citizen.co.za/lowvelder/260034/elective-meeting-of-trust-bears-no-fruit/
https://www.citizen.co.za/lowvelder/263406/sandford-agm-update/
