Mtubatuba community members in Richards Bay, KZN burnt down a farm after a fisher drowned in a dam at the farm.
On Friday farm workers said they spotted five people fishing at a farm’s dam. The farm security went to towards the dam to confront the fishers but they did not find them as they had already dispersed.
The incident was followed by reports that a man had drowned in the dam which prompted search efforts from the police and the farm owners.
‘‘The farm owner found a group of people fishing illegally in the river yesterday and chased them away as it was on private property. As they fled, a young boy jumped into the river and drowned. As revenge, the group arrived at the farm and burnt down almost everything, including four homesteads, workshops and the tractors. We were forced to flee,” a tenant at the farm said..
The incident is reported to have caused anger among the residents who threatened to burn down the farm on Saturday. The community told the farm manager that they were coming after the farm and on Sunday the farm was torched.
The man said the occupants of the farmhouse were trapped in their home until police arrived.
There have been no reports of injury. The Mtubatuba farm workers left before the attack and no casualties were reported.
Casper Fourie, the farm manager told eNCA, “I watched all this unfold. They destroyed all the stuff that they did not steal. I don’t know why they did it because i have a good relationship with my workers.”
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Other reports from the community indicate the attacks might have been racially motivated. There are reports of past clashes between the farm owner and the community over illegal fishing activities at the farm.
Equipment worth tens of millions of rands was burnt down at the Mtubatuba farm including excavators, tractors, harvesting equipment and farm houses.