More questions than answers about Matjhabeng’s 139 “Eskom farms”

10 March 2021

Last year's decision by the Matjhabeng Local Municipality (Allanridge, Hennenman, Odendaalsrus, Ventersburg, Virginia, Welkom) to put up its 139 farms as collateral for its outstanding debt to Eskom raises more questions than answers.

The Mayor of Matjhabeng, NkosenjaniSpeelman, was unable to provide any answers to the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) on Tuesday evening about what is currently being done with the farms.

The farms were offered as collateral after Eskom seized Matjhabeng's bank account. The value of the farms is estimated at approximately R5 billion.

Speelman was evasive when it came to the farms and was unable to indicate whether the farms are being used to benefit the people of the area.

The Director-General of the Free State Department of COGTA, Mokete Duma, indicated that the farms were offered as collateral for debt that only amounts to R371 million. The Municipality owes Eskom more than R3 billion and a dispute about the matter is currently before the court.

It does not make sense for the Municipality to put up assets valued at R5 billion for debt of just R371 million.

Even the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, Thoko Didiza, was surprised about the Matjhabeng farms when the FF Plus enquired about it during question time in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday.

The Municipality is effectively the biggest landowner in the district. The FF Plus is of the opinion that these farms should rather be sold so that the Municipality can pay off its debt.

The FF Plus demanded in parliamentary questions to Didiza and the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, that clarity must be provided on the current state of affairs.

Issued by Armand Cloete, FF Plus MP in NCOP (Free State), 10 March 2021