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Beneficiaries of the R1 billion Mala Mala Game Reserve land claim have accused their leaders of mismanagement and hoarding profits.
The battle for the control of the reserve, which holds the record as the most expensive land restitution project in the country, is heading to the Pretoria High Court.
A date for the hearing is yet to be set.
Beneficiaries of the land, which hosts one of the country’s most exclusive big five game parks, told City Press that their efforts to get Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti to intervene had failed.
They claim they had been left in the dark about the running of the luxurious, exclusive private nature reserve.
It is located in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in Mpumalanga, on the border of the Kruger National Park.
Nkwinti’s department bought the reserve from Mala Mala Ranch (Pty) Ltd in 2014, on behalf of 960 families of the Mhlanganisweni community after an out-of-court settlement.
The deal all but depleted the country’s land restitution budget for that financial year.
Critics argued at the time that that amount of money had previously been used to settle 36 489 urban and 252 rural claims.
The disgruntled beneficiaries wrote a letter to Nkwinti on October 20 2016, in which they accuse him of sidelining them and instead recognising “unconstitutional structures”.
Eight of the beneficiaries – led by Zamani Mathebula – have filed papers with the high court, asking it to order Nkwinti’s department to conduct a forensic investigation into the Nwandlamharhi Communal Property Association (NCPA), its treasurer Derick Mthabine and his associates.
They accuse them of running the business as if it was their “personal fiefdom”.
They claim that since the land and ecotourism business was handed over in 2014, the NCPA’s committee had not created an appropriate bank account, yet money was disbursed.
The association had accumulated a tax bill of R4.4 million by 2016.
The nature reserve generates about R8.4 million a year in rental income for the company Mala Mala Game Reserve, that runs the business, and about R2 million in the form of a tourism levy.
Mala Mala Game Reserve manager Alison Morphet said she was not aware of a problem with the NCPA.
“We deal with Mthabine and he’s the right person to speak to.”
In their court papers, the applicants ask that the department place the NCPA under administration and help beneficiaries to convene an annual general meeting (AGM) to elect a new executive.
They demand that the NCPA’s lawyers, Gilfillan du Plessis Attorneys, furnish records of funds held in their trust account and be interdicted from releasing or using this money until the dispute with the NCPA is resolved.
Mathebula claims in his affidavit that beneficiaries “had hoped that after the land had been returned to us, it would alleviate poverty in the community”.
“That was not the case, and we were erroneous in our belief,” Mathebula says.
He says that of the 15 executive NCPA committee members, three were removed in 2015. They included chairperson Perry Sambo. They were not replaced, meaning that the NCPA’s decisions were not binding and could be reversed.
He warns in his affidavit that there is tension between the association’s members and the beneficiaries.
“It might possibly result in bloodshed,” he warns.
Nkwinti’s office did not respond to written questions sent two weeks ago.
Mthabine resigned from his job at Standard Bank in Mbombela to work on running the NCPA full time.
He told City Press that his term as treasurer expired on October 22 2016, when a new executive was elected.
He denied claims that beneficiaries were never shown audited financial statements and insisted that the NCPA did everything above board during his term.
He said he did not know about the pending court case.
However, NCPA lawyer Louise du Plessis acknowledged the court application by Mathebula and his group and said it was baseless.
“We want this matter heard as soon as possible. There have been audited reports and I’m aware there’s an AGM coming soon,” Du Plessis said. She said that three payments of dividends were made to at least 200 “verified beneficiaries”.
The Georghiades’ mediation report, dated May 19 2016, confirms the existence of the disgruntled group and its concerns.
According to the report, since Sambo was removed as chairman, Mthabine remains the only custodian of the NCPA’s documentation and information, which has resulted in “a collapse of the chain of communication” in the NCPA.
The report outlines how Mthabine failed to provide expenditure for the hosting of the 2014 AGM and that there was no accountability for the 2016 AGM.
It states that no information was provided about the cost of distributing money to beneficiaries in 2015 and how this distribution was made, since the NCPA did not have a bank account.
It notes that members of the executive committee made a trip to China, but it is unknown how much was spent on this.
The report contains no details about those who travelled, where they stayed, how long the trip was and whether or not they took their spouses along.
In a letter dated February 6, the Mpumalanga department of agriculture, rural development and land administration informs Mthabine that an environmental authorisation for development on the NCPA’s land has been granted.
This indicates that the department still acknowledges him as an NCPA member.
Mathebula denied Mthabine’s claim that the NCPA had a new executive committee.
He said if this was the case, then it was an illegal structure that beneficiaries knew nothing about.
