LANDLESS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT BANNER
I have been told to remove all reference of African Eye News Services, Justin Arenstein and Sizwe samaYende from this site.
I am actually referring to the LPM or Landless People's Movement in this article. At no stage am I using AENS, Justin Arenstein and Sizwe samaYende to try and help substantiate claims of conspiracy to cleanse SA of Boers. I do not need to use them anyway, as it is worldwide knowledge, known by Interpol and Genocide Watchers that it is not a conspiracy, but a known fact that Boers are being targetted for genocide. What I am doing here on this website is collecting information centrally that has already been reported in South African newspapers and the like.
Again I wonder at the Freedom of Speech in South Africa and DEMOCRACY...
The EMAIL:
Your website on Boer Genocide uses the names listed below to help substantiate claims that there is a deliberate conspiracy to cleanse South Africa of Boers. This is a misrepresentation of our work, and is defamatory. Please remove all reference to AENS, Justin Arenstein and Sizwe samaYende from your website. Thank You. Justin Arenstein
(editor)
African Eye News Service
tel:
fax:
mobile:
email: editor
A subsidiary of the AFRICA FREE PRESS group
THE ARTICLE:
http://www.news24.com/Rapport/Nuus/0,,752-795_1459316,00.html
December 14, 2003 - African Eye News Service's SIZWE SAMAYENDE and JUSTIN ARENSTEIN report today that "militant activists"
of the so-called "Landless People's Movement" are training militant soldiers ("cadres") to attack "conservative" farmers.
Who is actually funding them however?
As the Censorbugbears already reported over a month ago, the Landless People's Movement will use the excuse that 'farmers are treating their workers unfairly' to invade commercial farms.
Forced Removal at Crossroads, Cape. This tapestry was made from a photograph taken by my husband Pierre Oosthuysen. I design and work many tapestries, all equally wild and woolly -- and usually showing important Crossroads in my own life -- such as the devastation of thousands of families having to face their homes being bulldozed, and their children being unable to go the school during such forced removals - a horror which cannot be imagined until personally seen. What makes this tapestry important to me is the fact that under the present ANC regime, homeless people are STILL being forcibly removed, like this, usually from 'State-owned' land.
Adriana Stuijt
As what has happened in neighbouring Zimbabwe, where the land invasions bankrupted two major banks practically overnight, this campaign could also have a devastating effect on South African banking. Invaded commercial land loses all its capitalisation value overnight -- banks are left holding useless loan and mortgage surities which the newly-unproductive farmers will no longer be able to pay off because they will have no farm products to sell/export.
The landless people's movement 's training of militant vigilante groups to overrun commercial farm land was slammed by the SA Human Rights Commission and left-wing farm violence researcher Ms Mary de Haas.
Mangaliso Kubheka, national coordinator of the Landless People's organisation, told the two independent journalists of African Eye News Service that "if a farmer murders a worker we will murder the farmer." If any violence against workers were reported they would target farm owners for similar vigilante actions, he said.
His comment actually drew some reaction from the SA Human Rights Commission's Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, who said that these comments were "horrifying and totally unacceptable.
"Of course there are problems on farms... " she hastened to add... "But this kind of war talk will not be the solution. It is very reckless, unconstitutional and morally wrong," she concluded.
Leftwing farm violence researcher in KZN Mary de Haas also rejected the violence being planned by the LPM - but not their underlying premise.
See her latest report dated November 2, 2003 at the seminar: "ARE LAND INVASIONS A CATALYST FOR FARM ATTACKS?":
This seminar was funded by US-Aid and the Munich-based Hanns Seidel Foundation, which supports Mbeki's NEPAD policy:
(Pictured: The head of the Hanns Seidel Institute for International Contact and Cooperation Dr. Rainer Gepperth (right) with the Members of the "New Partnership for Africa´s Development (NEPAD) and Civil Society" on the Workshop, November 1st - 3rd, 2003, at Johannesburg/South Africa)
However, neither De Haas nor the Human Rights Commission issued a public call for the Landless People's Movement to stop their vigilante actions -- nor did they call on the SA president to help protect South African farmers against such ethnic violence.
The Landless People's Movement has been invading "white-owned" farms for at least the past five years in an organised fashion, creating deliberately confrontational situations in which farmers are forced to defend themselves from armed groups of attackers.
- They have also accused farmers of many vile acts for which the farm owners were then arrested -- only to be thrown out of law courts as unfounded allegations.
One method they use to invade farms is to illegally bury their dead in farm cemeteries, which is against the owners' legal rights.
In September, LPM-activists buried their Mpumalanga chairman Sipho Makhombothi without permission from the owner on Loskop farm near Wakkerstroom.The farm owner has now launched a law suit against the illegal burial.
Such burial sites are a form of land invasion and have far-reaching consequences as all the tribal relatives of the buried man can now legally set up permanent homes around the gravesite to "protect and honour their ancestor". Two more similar funerals were conducted in KwaZulu-Natal this week.
The National Land Committee http://www.nlc.co.za/pamphlets/lr11.htm
- and to which the LPM also belongs - argues that the LPM is "an autonomous sub-organisation which they cannot intervene with".
They claim this week that they are "distancing themselves" from the violence-driven vigilante campaign.
- However this is clearly a lie, as their website tells exactly the opposite story --which is that they are very clearly supporting and mimicking the sloganeering of the LPM.
- See http://www.nlc.co.za/pamphlets/lr11.htm.
In fact their slogan is:
"landlessness-racism; end racism/give us our land now!"
The National Land Committee writes on its own website:
- "We also support the gallant actions of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to return stolen land to the people of Africa...
"Establish the Landless People's Movement as a national structure to coordinate our activities; and...
"Invite Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to share ideas on land reform in South Africa.
also read their formal charter:
http://www.nlc.co.za/pubs2003/landlesscharter1.htm
NLC chairman Buti Chakane told the two journalists this week however that they "opposed the LPM's slogan 'no land, no vote". Well obviously - they are a pro-ANC organisation which wants the voters to show up enmasse -- while the Landless People's Movement is mobilising amongst "the masses" to boycot next year's parliamentary elections.
- It's important to note however that the National Land Committee did
not denounce the militants' plans for illegal land invasions themselves. - And, although not noted in the original article, it is also important to know that the NLC receives taxpayer-funded donations from the ANC-regime and that their leadership is directly linked to the ANC-leadership.
Chris van Zyl of the Transvaal agricultural union of South Africa warns that the LPM is "drawing a very thick, confrontational line" across the political landscape of South Africa.
"These vigilante attacks will create a private war in the countryside and the bullets will fly," he warns.
"We wonder if this isn't really just a smoke screen to initimidate farmers and that these are merely used as an excuse to illegally occupy commercial farm land."
Lourie Bosman of Agri-SA described the LPM as "ridiculously terrifying. We have taken note of the situation and hope that the law will deal with them.
"African Eye News Service" - as published in Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport:
The National Land Committee also funds the Landless People's Movement -- see the article in RAPPORT Dec 14, 2003 on how the Landless People's militants are training cadres for ethnic warfare against SA commercial farmers.
Terror Lekota, Minister of Defence and Nelson Mandela
'after all these years 99,4% of our supporters still believe we are going to give them da free houses!'
14/03/2004 21:56 - (SA) Jason Lloyd
Kirkwood - "We will not vote on April 14, but we will take farms and chase away white farmers like dogs."
The Landless People's Movement (LPM) confirmed over the weekend that the organisation was still planning to violently take over farms on election day.
Mangaliso Kubheko, national organiser of the LPM, said on Saturday that the organisation was "sick and tired" of government's delays in completing land claims.
Khubeka did not want to say which areas the LPM would target.
"No, we will not say where we will hit. It could mess up our plans because then police will know how to stop us."
He said the LPM's members would not vote on election day but rather "chase white farmers from their farms like dogs".
No land no vote
"We will give substance to our campaign of no land no vote," he said.
Kubheka added that the LPM had no plans to apologise to the Freedom Front Plus.
The party filed a complaint against the LMP with the South African Human Rights Commission after Kubheka said in December that the organisation would kill farmers who kill their workers.
Glen Thomas, deputy director-general of the department of land affairs, said on Sunday that the LPM's threat was being taken seriously.
"If they break the law, the police will act," he said.
The ANC and other political parties called on the LPM earlier this month to abandon its plans after the organisations occupied offices of the Eastern Cape government in Bisho.
source: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1498097,00.html
It's a slogan that the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) called hate speech last year and it has resurfaced in the flurry of party propaganda in the run-up to the elections.
Earlier this year, the Freedom Front Plus lodged a complaint against Mangaliso Kubheka, national organiser of the Landless People's Movement, claiming he had said "kill the farmer, kill the boer" during a speech.
The SAHRC investigated the complaint and ruled that the LPM apologise publicly via the newspaper Rapport, which had reported on the offending speech.
They have until March 23 to respond.
However, a defiant Mangaliso Kubheka told Saturday Star that the party would not apologise.
"We have nothing to apologise for. The Freedom Front Plus is not a friend or a relative. Maybe the HRC should apologise for talking about things I do not know about."
Kubheka said he did not think the "kill the farmer, kill the boer" slogan constituted hate speech.
"We are talking about a party that is calling for the death penalty. Can they tell you who the slogan was directed at anyway? If they say it's hate speech then they must say who it is directed at," Kubheka said.
Leon Louw, spokesperson for the Freedom Front plus, said the party was considering suing the LPM.
"We are waiting until the cut-off date and if there has not been a response by then, we will definitely take further steps."
Mogam Moodliar, head of legal services at the SAHRC, said their recommendation was that the LPM must apologise for the comments but should that not happen, the commission had brainstormed various responses.
"We could mediate, ask the party if they really meant it, or the Freedom Front Plus could take the issue to the Equality Court."
Last June, the Freedom Front Plus lodged a complaint with the SAHRC after African National Congress members used the slogan during two public meetings, one of which was the funeral of ANC MP Peter Mokaba in 2002.
On appeal, the SAHRC said the killing of a group of people was an "advocacy of hatred" that amounted to harm.
But Moodliar said this pronouncement did not result in any legal precedent. "It does not mean that every utterance is hate speech. We need to look at whether there was harm caused or intention to cause harm," he said.
source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=15&art_id=ctK430619&set_id=1
News24/African Eye News Service, 19 February2003
Commandos: Farmworkers rejoice
Sizwe samaYende
Wakkerstroom - Farm labourers in Mpumalanga's deep
south say they have finally won a hard-fought battle for the
abolishment of army commandos.
Labourers on farms around rural towns of Wakkerstroom,
Piet Retief, Volksrust and Amersfoort have been
complaining to national and provincial authorities over the
past four years to end the Wakkerstroom Commando's
reign of terror against black farm labourers.
They claimed that commandos were used by farmers to
force them off land.
Activists have praised President Thabo Mbeki's
announcement during his state of the nation address on
Friday that the 183 part-time South African National Defence
Force (SANDF) units in the country were going to be
phased out.
Safety and security minister Charles Nqakula reiterated
Mbeki's statement this week saying that commando
members have been linked to "atrocities".
Andile Mngxitama, a National Land Committee (NLC) official
and anti-commando lobbyist, said on Tuesday that the
government's step was closing a chapter of collusion
between white farmers, commandos and justice officials
against vulnerable labourers.
"This is a real victory for farm dwellers that the government
has finally recognised that commandos serve the interests
of the landlords and they're vicious," Mngxitama said.
"There are classic cases, especially in Mpumalanga,
proving that commandos, which normally have white
farmers as leaders, were colluding with white magistrates
and prosecutors," he said. Spokesperson for the militant
Landless Peoples Movement (LPM) Mangaliso Kubheka
said that commando should done away with because they
"beat, kill and even castrate" labourers.
Complaints from Mpumalanga labourers prompted former
safety and security MEC Steve Mabona to appoint a special
police unit, Gijima Tsotsi, in 2000 to re-and re-
investigate more than 100 cases against commando
members that were allegedly thrown out of court by biased
magistrates and prosecutors since 1996.
Many of the cases couldn't be revived, however, when
police were unable to trace key witnesses after such a long
time.
Transvaal Agricultural Union (Tau) safety and security
spokesperson Boela Niemann said that his union wasn't
surprised by government's decision to phase out
commandoes.
He said commandos had been under an orchestrated
onslaught by the NLC and the militant LPM in recent years.
He said that the government should find a solution to the
problems in rural areas, and not consider police as a
replacement for commandos, as police were struggling to
fulfil their own mandate to protect the public.
Opposition political parties such as the Democratic Alliance
(DA), New National Party (NNP) and the Freedom Front
(FF) have opposed the phase-out of the commandos.
Lekota sued
A R1.9m suit brought against defence minister Mosiuoa
Lekota by two farm workers who say they were tortured by
commando members will be heard in the Pretoria High
Court in November.
Farm labourers Moses Mayisela, 36, and Mgezeni
Hlatshwayo, 41, claim that 10 Wakkerstroom Commando
members tortured them in October 1996.
Mayisela was left permanently blind after the soldiers
allegedly assaulted him before giving him electric shocks
and spraying teargas on his face.
The labourers name prominent farmer and former leader of
the commando, Barend Greyling, as a perpetrator.
Greyling's brother, Willem, is also mentioned.
Mayisela of Rooikop farm near Wakkerstroom is suing for
R1.6m, while Hlatshwayo of Driefontein is suing for
R341300.
Complaints by farm labourers prompted Lekota and senior
cabinet ministers to visit the SANDF's regional head office
in Ermelo in 2000.
It was said that farm workers possibly confused soldiers
with security guards who wore camouflage uniforms and
Lekota got a High Court interdict prohibiting security
companies from issuing camouflage outfits.
International watchdog, Human Rights Watch, also
conducted investigations in the area in 2001 and expressed
shock at stories told by the rural community.
Human Rights Watch researcher Bronwen Manby
recommended in her report titled, Unequal Protection: The
State Response to Violent Crime on South African Farms
that commandos should be banned from fighting crime and
the job should be left solely in police's hands.
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,6119,2-7-1442_1322002,00.= html
http://gate.cosatu.org.za/pipermail/news/2003-February/000145.html
For the second time, the Freedom Front Plus was succesful in having irresponsible remarks made by an organisation, be declared as hate speech.
Last year, the Freedom Front lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC), against the Landless People's Movement (LPM), accusing the LPM of hate speech. Last week the HRC found the LPM guilty of hate speech. According to the judgement, the LPM must submit a written apology to the FF Plus which must be published in the media.
According to the leader of the FF Plus, Dr. Pieter Mulder, the party will continue to bring people who make reckless and racist remarks to book. "We are tired of double standards where certain people could say anything and then get away with it. We cannot permit the so-called political correctness, especially from only one side, because it paralyses us so that we accept these remarks without reaction", he said.
In December last year, the FF Plus lodged a complaint at the HRC about remarks of Mr. Kubheka, national co-ordinator of the LPM, who said that if a farmer murders a farm worker, the LPM will murder the farmer. He also said that the LPM will train and deploy cadres to take revenge on farmers who treat their workers unfairly.
According to Dr. Mulder the FF Plus agrees with the finding of the HRC that leaders and prominent persons have a responsibility to promote tolerance amongst communities as well as respect for the rights of other groups. "Polarisation in South Africa is to no ones advantage. Comments like those of the LPM lead to conflict between white farmers and farm workers and encourage farm murders", Dr. Mulder added.
The finding of the HRC is based on an earlier judgement when the slogan "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer", was condemned as hate speech. The complaint against this slogan was also lodged by the FF Plus.
"This achievement proofs that a political party fighting for that which is right, can indeed make a difference", Dr. Mulder said. "In the future, the FF Plus will not hesitate to again take action against such remarks", he added.
http://www.vryheidsfront.co.za/english/newsletter_.asp
AGRI SA has asked the SA Police Service (SAPS) to investigate threats made by the Landless People's Movement (LPM), and its assertion that it is training cadres to murder farmers, the agricultural union said yesterday. President Japie Grobler said the SAPS had been asked to determine whether any laws had been broken.
According to Grobler, the LPM had said they would seize farms and chase off white farmers "like dogs", and that the movement was training cadres to murder farmers.
He said Agri SA viewed the threat seriously and called for steps to be taken against the organisation.
"The threats also challenge the authority of the state," said Grobler.
Agri SA, in conjunction with the police, has sent a guideline document to its affiliates regarding the handling of illegal farm occupations. Farmers were urged to acquaint themselves with the guidelines and to follow them where necessary.
Grobler said the union had also written to President Thabo Mbeki and the British High Commissioner in SA to inform her of the LPM's threats because of media reports that the movement was financed in part by British non-governmental organisations like Oxfam and War on Want.
British high commission spokesman Nick Shepherd said no letter had yet been received and the commission would attend to it "when it comes".
LPM spokesman Mangaliso Kubheka was not immediately available for comment. Sapa
Mar :09:41:000AM Business Day 1st Edition
http://www.bd.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,,00.html
Agri SA regards the recent threats made by the Landless People's Movement (LPM) to commit violence in a serious light. The LPM also challenges the state's authority. "The LPM's statements recently reported in the media, in which they threaten to take over farms and chase farmers away like dogs, and to train cadres to murder farmers, are extremely irresponsible. These statements are nothing but incitement to violence," said Agri SA president Japie Grobler.
Grobler said the threats "hold far-reaching implications for the safety and stability of rural areas, and the LPM's statements could encourage other uninformed people to become involved in violent crime against the farming community. This cannot be tolerated. The LPM will have to accept responsibility for violent crimes committed against the farming community".
Agri SA has asked the South African Police Service (SAPS) to investigate the LPM's alleged statements and threats with a view to establish whether they have broken any laws. "If this is indeed the case, appropriate steps must be taken against the organisation," said Grobler.
Agri SA, in collaboration with the SAPS, has furnished its affiliates with a guideline document on the handling of unlawful farm occupations. Farmers are encouraged to acquaint themselves with these guidelines and, where necessary, to implement them.
Agri SA yesterday also addressed a letter to the British High Commission in South Africa informing them of the LPM's threats. According to media reports, the LPM is funded by, among others, two British organisations, namely OXFAM and War on want. The British government was requested to investigate the possible involvement of these two organisations in the LPM with a view to terminating their financial support to the movement. A copy of the letter addressed to the High Commissioner is also being sent to President Thabo Mbeki since the actions of the LPM undermine the objectives of the Strategic Plan for Agriculture.
Enquiries:
Japie Grobler, Agri SA President
of
Kobus Visser, Agri SA Director Governmental Services
or
http://www.agriinfo.co.za/Agri%20SA/Agri%20Hooftrekke/Landless.htm
| 
