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(LANDACTION) TAKE ACTION-South African Organizer Kubheka Harassed by Land Owner - 2003

TAKE ACTION-South African Organizer Kubheka Harassed by Land Owner
October 09, 2003
The Landless People's Movement
South Africa

LPM NATIONAL ORGANISER FACES FAKE ATTEMPED MURDER CHARGE FROM ABUSIVE WHITE FARMER"

The Landless People's Movement - an independent national movement of poor and landless people struggling for land reform - condemns the continued use of the rural criminal injustice system by the white racist farming community to attack the poor and landless and force them off the land of their ancestors.

LPM National Organiser Mangaliso Kubheka will appear in the Newcastle Magistrate's Court in KwaZulu-Natal tomorrow, 26 September, on a fake charge of attempted murder laid against him bya racist and abusive white farmer who laid the charge in retaliation against him for daring to challenge her efforts to force poor andlandless farmworkers off her farm by diverting the river to deny them access to water and by locking the gates to control their movements.

Kubheka - a highly respected land activist in South Africa and among the growing international movement for land & agrarian reform who has just returned from a successful international protest against the WTO in Cancun - was assisting a Belgian human rights activistinvestigating conditions on South African farms to interview the farmworkers on the Kromeleoog Farm in the Newcastle District in June when the alleged incident occurred. As they were driving out of the farm gates after interviewing the workers, Kubheka and the Belgian activist were confronted by Kriek, who demanded to know why they were there and told them they were not allowed to speak to the workers. While sitting in his bakkie, Kubheka informed Kriek that she was committing an offence in terms of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act by depriving the farmworkers of water and freedom of movement. Without getting out of his bakkie, Kubheka then drove away, and stopped at the nearest police station to report the argument because Kriek had previously laid a false trespassing charge against him in late 2002. The court declined to prosecute that case because police members, whom Kubheka had called to the scene of an attempted illegal eviction on the farm, rejected Kriek's allegations. Kriek laid the current "attempted murder" charge some time after the incident.LPM Newcastle members will descend on the court tomorrow in support of our courageous National Organiser, whose tireless efforts to support poor and landless farmdwellers in his own province and to unite the 26-million poor and landless majority in our country to claim back the land of our ancestors will tomorrow expose the lie of the 60,000 white farmers who still control most of our land, but who claim that they are the "victims" of farm violence. The LPM fully supports Kubheka and calls on the rural criminal injustice system to dismiss this case with the contempt it deserves, and to take punitive action against Kriek for attempting to subvert the cause of justice to her own racist agenda. All media interested in the real story about violence on South Africa's farms are urged to cover Kubheka's case which begins in the Newcastle Magistrate's Court tomorrow, 26 September, 2003, from 9:00am.

Contact-LPM National Projects & Education Officer on 084-607-1388 or LPM National Organiser Mangaliso Kubheka on 072-127-4055.

Labels: LAND REFORM, LAND RIGHTS, MANGALISO KUBHEKA

posted by MrK @ 6:13 AM