Fifteen years after first issuing summons, Fred Daniel, a man whose dreams of developing a world-class conservation project ― Nkomazi Wilderness ― in Mpumalanga were smashed through collusion and corruption, has claimed victory in court.
Judge Neil Tuchten, sitting in the Pretoria high court, ordered the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Board (MTPB) and the Regional Land Claims Commissioner (RLCC) of the province jointly liable to pay Daniel more than R300m, plus interest and legal costs.
“The wickedness of the conduct of the MTPA and the RLCC acting in concert with other parties I have found to have banded together to oppress Daniel and drive him from the district, is profound,” Tuchten said.
One of those “others” mentioned in the judgment is ANC heavyweight and former deputy president David Mabuza. Mabuza, he said, while holding various positions in the Mpumalanga government, had actively assisted in forcing Daniel off his land.
Mabuza ― who died in July this year ― was never a party to the lengthy proceedings. But evidence was that he had, in a telephone call in August 2008, told Daniel that he had to sell the land to the Ndwandwa Trust, otherwise he could not protect him.
It emerged that the trust was being used in a land claims racket through which land would be bought for inflated prices and sold to land claims authorities for even more, which Daniel had refused to participate in.
Tuchten also indicated that Mabuza was behind an instruction to the police to “stand down” when an angry mob descended on Daniel’s properties and it was Mabuza who arrived to address the mob, promising that “the land was theirs and they would get it”.
However, Tuchten said there was no single act by a single state actor.
“This was a concerted campaign over several years by members of the executive in the province, in league with high officials in at least two organs of state, who were in a unique position to intimidate Daniel and frustrate the realisation of his dreams.
“They enlisted in their scheme a criminal mob and instructed the police to stand aside while the mob did its work.”
It resulted in Daniel selling the project to Dubai World for a fraction of what it was worth and, later, fearing for his life, leaving the Badplaas Valley altogether.
The case first began before judge Cassim Sardiwalla, who was removed from active service for medical reasons after hearing testimony for 25 days.
It started afresh before Tuchten in January this year with Daniel testifying and being cross examined over many days.
In his evidence he described how he and his company Grand Valley Estates had been systematically sabotaged by government officials intent on stopping him from establishing the 30,000-hectare Nkomazi Wilderness through fictitious land claims, laying false criminal charges against him, which resulted in the seizure and death of some of his animals, including a leopard, and “actively” defaming him, claiming he was a racist and a crook.
He also said he had been actively hampered by not being given permits for the “big five” which were later swiftly given to Dubai World, after he sold the land.
He was also prevented from concluding a deal with a local mining company to buy the local Msauli Village, which had been used for employee accommodation and which he wanted to include in the greater project as a “resort”.
This was because of alleged “land claims”.
The village was later bought by the RLCC, in a deal that was flagged as being corrupt following a forensic investigation.
The consequence was that the village “descended into ruin”, Tuchten said.
The adjacent Songimvelo Game Reserve was routinely invaded by cattle grazers, its fences were broken and its game was poached.
“The 800 jobs that Daniel and his consortium (which included Kerzner International) could have saved if their plans had come to fruition were lost, as was the opportunity to provide the district with a world-class eco-tourist destination.”
Regarding the instruction to police to “stand down” in relation to the violence in 2008, Tuchten said this instruction could only have emanated from highly placed politicians.
The 100 to 150 protesters were not locals but had been bussed in from Middelburg.
Regarding the telephone conversation between Daniel and Mabuza, the judge said the threat made by Mabuza was “not language becoming a reputable politician”.
“Shorn of its protective camouflage, it was intended to show Daniel that he was able to withhold the protection of the SAPS. Of course he could have protected him. He could have told the SAPS to do their duty. He could have spoken out against unlawful violence. What he was really saying to Daniel was that he chose not to protect him unless Daniel did what he told him to do.”
Tuchten said Daniel and Grand Valley had proved that there was “collusion” to force him to abandon his project.
He awarded R38m, being the difference between the market value of the land and what Dubai World paid for it and R268m for loss of profit.
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