According to eyewitnesses, a group of 12 men and a woman, arrived at Sapeko on Thursday afternoon and warned tenants they were occupying houses illegally. It is said the men wore security guard gear such as bulletproof vests and were armed. The tenants rent their houses from Makgoba Asset Management (MAM). MAM manages the assets and property of the Makgoba people.
On Friday, the group returned, forcing their way onto the Sapeko estate, entering the homes of tenants and people living in a nearby village, and removing their furniture. The Herald was sent videos and photos of the group threatening that tenants would be killed if they did not cooperate. In the video, the woman can be heard saying that she will not allow another ‘apartheid’ in 2024, and her grandfather does not have land because of another person’s grandfather.
In another video, the men approach a tenant telling him that the house he rents is theirs. One of the men then says they (the tenants) can call whoever he wants, even the police, everyone knows them. The woman can be seen dancing in a house after they broke the gate singing Moshibudi Makgoba, meaning that she is in the man’s yard and instructs the cars the group arrived in to enter.
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Jo Thupane Makgoba, leader of the Makgobas and member of MAM, told the Herald that it is believed that the ‘young Makgoba’ group is of the Makgoba Traditional Authority and that they will be taking urgent legal action to protect their property and that of their tenants. He said that after the ordeal most of the vigilante group left the Sapeko estate, but a few remained behind. These men were arrested after various organisations and the police went to help those on the estate.
Local FF Plus councillor, André Moss, also visited Sapeko to assist residents during the ordeal. “The FF Plus immediately called SAPS and put pressure on the station commander to make sure all people and property were protected and safe and that they go out to the scene to protect them. SAPS intervened and two arrests followed,” he said. Jo Makgoba told the Herald that he believes the group to be from Polokwane and was assisted by a security firm owned by the bodyguard of a prominent political official in Polokwane.
