MAKHADO – Members of the ruling African National Congress, the Congress of the South African Trade Unions, the South African Communist Party and the South African National Civic Organisation in the Vhembe District took to the streets of Makhado over the weekend to protest against what they termed the “veil of conspiracy of silence by certain farmers” in the area.

“We still experience illegal evictions of qualifying citizens from land which they have a claim of tenure to. There is a concerted campaign by some farmers to criminally obliterate evidence of prior land ownership by whole communities through the removal of bones from graves” reads the memorandum. The tripartite alliance and Sanco added that they were left with no option but to conclude that the veil of a conspiracy of silence is motivated by nothing other than racism or complicity in racism.

“As we celebrate the victory of progressive armed forces of the Soviet Union over Fascist Nazi and the liberation of innocent victims at Auschwitz, we are appalled by the apparent remnants of such fascist practices in our region. How is it that a sane person can shoot another and claim that it was a baboon that was being shot at?” They further asked that all democratically minded, peace-loving people of our beloved country and Vhembe District unite in action to condemn and pledge unwavering solidarity against the forces of racism, backwardness and darkness.

In the memorandum, attempts to frustrate the land restitution process by racism, fascists and their collaborators, all illegal “fattering” of land that has already been gazetted as claimed, the denial of access to the Songozwi Royal Court by digging furrows on the road thereto, the labelling of Songozwi Royal Court as a graveyard, the barring of access to farm areas for the Land Claims Commission, the resistance by some in the judiciary against any move towards transformation of the judiciary including Legal Aid Board as well as resistance by some in the South African Police Service to any and all moves towards transformation, are mentioned.

The mayor of the Vhembe district, Cllr Sam Moeti, on behalf of the MEC for Agriculture, Mrs Dikeledi Magadzi, received the memorandum outside the Makhado Magistrate’s offices.