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Olievenhoutbosch farmer loses R1 million due to illegal land invasions
The farmer also said attempts have been made to extort money from him.
An aerial view of land grabs on an Olievenhoutbosch farmer’s property. Photo: Pretoria Rekord
An Olievenhoutbosch farmer has lost an estimated R1 million in propery and crop damage due to continued illegal land invasions on his property over the past week.
Hennie Henrico told Pretoria Rekord he found a farmhouse on his property stripped of electrical equipment fittings, plugs and lights.
“The doors had been removed and some of the roof sheets had been removed.”
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Extortion claims
In addition to encroaching illegal invaders, Henrico also said there had been attempts to extort money from him in exchange to stop more people from occupying the land.
“Last week I received a call from a guy named Rasta. He is staying in one of the shacks on my property. Rasta is asking for money to prevent people from occupying the house on the farm.
“He wanted R60 000 and when I said I didn’t have it, he then wanted R20 000, and to bring R30 000 later,” Henrico said.
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Police inaction
Henrico said he had not paid any money to date, as he was still contemplating whether to open a case or not.
He explained that this had happened before, and when he opened a case, “nothing happened”.
“So I am not sure if it’s worth opening a case again.”
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He told the publication he even complained directly to the colonel in charge, but this too yielded no results.
Instead, the case in question was closed.
“I opened a case on September 24, and to my surprise, on September 30, the case was closed. I was told there were no leads and the case was investigated, so it had to be closed,” Henrico said.
Attempts to get comment from the police were unsuccessful.
In August, thousands of land invaders began occupying private land in Olievenhoutbosch. It is not clear if Henrico’s property forms part of this invasion.
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Edited by Nica Richards.
This article first appeared on Caxton publication Pretoria Rekord’s website, by Sipho Jack. Read the original article here.
