TimesLIVE reports that a farm manager in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) was hospitalised with burns on Saturday after "violent thugs" invaded a farm, set it alight and allegedly threw him into the flames.  

IFP MP Inkosi Bhekizizwe Luthuli revealed details about the incident in a statement on Sunday on behalf of the Mathulini Communal Property Association.  He indicated as follows:  “The perpetrators of this violent and unlawful act are part of the ‘concerned group’ that is attempting to hijack a 7,500 hectare land claim from the Mathulini Communal Property Association and the Ndelo Community Trust, valued in excess of R300m.  The farms that make up this land claim produce 400,000 tonnes of sugar cane annually and employ 1,200 people.  This violent hijack of a legitimate land claim is a desperate and unlawful attempt to achieve what has failed through legal processes that have so far cost the beneficiaries R6.5m in legal fees.  The demands of the ‘concerned group’ ... have already been rejected in the land claims court in numerous cases.”  Luthuli added that he had written to President Cyril Ramaphosa and agriculture, land reform and rural development minister Thoko Didiza about the situation.

• Read the full original of the report by Nico Gous on the above story at TimesLIVE

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