The new minister of agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has been beseeched to intervene in the troubled Mantusini Dairy Farm.
Beneficiaries of the farm in Port St Johns, who once had jobs working there and some of whom gave up their land to make way for the project, want it to be revived.
The DA in the province wrote to Steenhuisen seeking urgent intervention in the failed project which has seen more than R40m pumped into it by the government.
The farm, started by 450 villagers in 2005, was officially launched with much fanfare in 2016.
The then department of agriculture, land reform and rural development pumped R18m worth of state resources, including dairy cows, into the project.
By 2020, it had received R43m in state funding.
In 2021, the Dispatch reported that less than five years after the investment the farm was so broke it could not even keep its lights on, more than 400 of the state-sponsored cows had died due to negligence and diseases and that despite having generated R13m during its peak through milk sales, its bank account was empty.
At its height, the farm was able to produce milk from 650 cows.
During a visit on Tuesday, beneficiaries of the project blamed the government for failing to provide armed security to guard the facility.
Buildings including administration offices, feed storage facilities and sleeping quarters for some of the staff have been completely ripped off by vandals.
Two milk storage tanks, one with a capacity of 12,000 litres and the other of 6,000 litres are exposed to the sun.
Not a single cow is now at the farm, neither is there water or electricity.
Underground electricity cables were dug up and stolen while water pumps were also vandalised and stolen.
Former DA councillor in Port St Johns, Derrick Madini said when the farm was operating, millions of litres of milk as well as feed for animals were produced.
“We were hoping it was going to help create wide-scale jobs not only for the people of Mantusini but the entire PSJ area.”
Sipho Ncola, a former municipal ward councillor in the area whose family contributed five ploughing fields to the project, said his heart was bleeding.
He was among those who found themselves chased away from the dairy farm.
He said people had initially come overnight to strip the farm bare, but at some point became so brazen that they did it during the day.
“We saw trucks coming in and cars, but we were too scared to do anything.”
Mantusini traditional leader Chief Mthetheleli Mhlabuhlangene Nomphandana said he and his subjects were hurting.
He said many of the people were now surviving on social grants.
One of the cattle herders at the farm, Fundisile Lukwityi, 44, now relies on the government’s R350 grant.
“There are more than 100 people who lost their jobs and are now struggling to make ends meet,” the father of three said.
Ngxiwa Khetho, who is credited with conceptualising the idea of a dairy farm, said they had been attacked and threatened whenever they tried to step in to save the farm.
“While the farm died, we are now left with useless papers and meaningless documents,” he said.
“Our wish is to see this farm revived.”
In its letter, written by MPL Heinrich Muller, the DA is asking Steenhuisen to investigate why the project has been closed.
It wants Steenhuisen to also investigate why this multimillion-rand project failed.
Those who are responsible for the failure must be held to account, and the possibility of implementing another project to assist and uplift the community must be investigated, the letter says.
On Tuesday, Muller said the state of the farm was a “sad situation” and it was unacceptable.
Muller said a rural development and agrarian reform portfolio committee meeting report revealed the farm was closed, and it was alleged that the livestock had been taken away by the department.
“You cannot simply pump funding into a project without proper planning.
“The previous national government didn’t provide the necessary assistance and oversight,” Muller said.
A representative from Steenhuisen’s office said Steenhuisen had asked the provincial office to give him a report.
National spokesperson Linda Page said the department was aware of the state of the project.
“The department invested resources, financial and other support to ensure the success of the dairy.
“However, due to infighting among community members the project collapsed and was vandalised by the very community, this despite our efforts to provide guidance and support.”
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.