Tensions high as workers fight for outstanding pay
Farmworkers of the controversial Khutso Naketsi Agri (KNA)farm in Skeerpoort have been protesting for the past two months, demanding their salaries which had not been paid for two months.
The farm workers did not receive salaries for December and January and have since been protesting. The Skeerpoort and Remhoogte roads were blockaded periodically the past week with protesters throwing rocks at vehicles. Public Order Police had to intervene to disperse crowds. The protests started in December and at one stage the SPCA had to step in after horses were allegedly held hostage without food and water.
The 1923ha farm was bought by the government in 2019 for R460 million from the Pretorius family of HPN Boerderye. It was handed over to the Khutso Naketsi Communal Property Association (KNCPA) for beneficiaries of the Skeerpoort community.
According to a post-settlement plan, HPN Boerdery, having built up the farm since 1978, was requested to assist and act in a mentorship capacity for five years. A company Khutso Naketsi Agri (KNA) was registered to manage the farm. The KNCPA owns 70% of the company and HPN Boerdery 30%.
According to the agreement, the arrangement would be valid for five years, whereafter the community could terminate the arrangement and buy the 30% shares held by HPN Boerderye.
“During the five years, HPN Boerderye was supposed to do skills transfer and teach the beneficiaries to farm after which the company would buy out our shares,” said Stephan Pretorius of HPN Boerderye, the son of Henning Pretorius.
The company was supposed to be funded by the North West Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) which approved funding of R87 million in 2019. However, the full funding was never received. According to court documents, when funding from the department did not come through, Henning Pretorius loaned approximately R20 million to the company to keep the farm operational.
The five-year post-settlement plan ended in June 2024. According to KNCPA chairman Clement Khoza, the KNCPA extended the agreement until September. “Our agreement with HPN Boerderye was to pay all creditors and retrench and pay all employees,” he said. “We wanted to close the company and give it back to the KNCPA,” he said. However, according to a letter from the KNCPA in Kormorant’s possession, directed to KNA employees on 18 June 2024, Khutso Naktsi CPA “have no intention to let go of KNA employees.” In another letter to employees in September, the CPA informed employees that it plans a transition from KNA to a new company Khuto Naketsi Communal Agri – Tech ” ensuring the business continuity on the farm.”
Pretorius said there was never an agreement between the KNCPA and HPN Boerderye to retrench workers. “We had to pay off creditors and that was done by the end of September. It included my father who had not been paid back the full amount he loaned KNA.”
Pretorius said the KNCPA started the retrenchment process in October and letters were sent to employees. The KNCPA took the matter to the CCMA and was told that employees could not be retrenched without the legal process which includes facilitation, notice and severance pay. “This started the trouble and in November there was no money to pay the workers and my father paid them out of his own pocket.”
The KNCPA then brought an urgent high court application for liquidation. Khosa said HPN Boerderye opposed the application. “The sooner a liquidation order is granted, the sooner a liquidator will be appointed who can take control of the Company’s assets, liquidate the assets and make payment to the employees. The Court application has been opposed by HPN Bestuur (Pty) Limited and Mr HPN Pretorius. This is causing unnecessary delays in obtaining the liquidation order and appointment of a liquidator and ultimately payment to employees. The matter was set down on the urgent roll of 23 December 2024 but because of the opposition of HPN Bestuur (Pty) Limited and Mr HPN Pretorius, the Court did not hear the matter. The CPA is in the process of trying to have the court hear the matter on a preferential hearing date. Again, HPN Bestuur (Pty) Limited and Mr HPN Pretorius are trying to delay the hearing of the matter,” the CPA wrote in a letter to employees.
According to Pretorius, HPN Boerderye suggested that moveable assets on the farm be sold to pay employees but that the CPA insisted on liquidating KNA. “If the assets are sold, the employees can be paid immediately. A liquidation process can take six months,” Pretorius said. “We are prepared to immediately pay the workers out of our own pockets, all the KNCPA has to do is to sign an agreement that the farm implements be sold and my father paid back before anything else. We are prepared to resolve this problem immediately but the KNCPA does not want to. They want to liquidate.”
All activities on the farm have ceased.
Upon questions from Kormorant about what the KNCPA can do for the employees, Khoza said there is nothing the CPA can do except apply for liquidation.
The Khutso Naketsi Communal Property Association published a notice for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for a prospecting application for gold ore on large parts of Skeerpoort in September 2024. It was met with huge concern and objections by the Skeerpoort community.