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The Land Claims Court did its job in Prudhoe, outside Port Alfred, and the right people got their ancestral land back.
But the same beneficiaries, the Prudhoe community, looted a multi-million rand resort that they inherited on their land.
The Fish River Resort, which was meant to boost the economy of the coastal community of Prudhoe, situated a few kilometres from the popular tourist destination of Port Alfred, was looted by its beneficiaries at the weekend.
Prudhoe community members stormed into the resort in vehicles with trailers, making off with stoves, fridges, television sets, and IT equipment – millions of rands worth of the resort’s assets.
It had taken the Prudhoe community nearly 23 years to gain access to the land which they had been awarded by the Land Claims Court.
It only took two months for a faction of the Prudhoe Community Trust to destroy it.
The land had everything going for it; it is near the famed tourist destination of Port Alfred and it contains the popular Fish River Resort.
A film studio was planned, and meanwhile, the producers of Survivor SA chose the site to shoot the TV series.
Revenues from the resort alone could lift the beneficiaries, the Prudhoe community, out of poverty.
What could possibly go wrong?
Yet everything did.
The resort landed in the hands of the Prudhoe community in June 2020 after a court battle between the Prudhoe and Mazizi communities.
The title was officially transferred to the Prudhoe Community Trust on 21 March 2021.
In a lease and investment deal brokered by the Legal Resources Centre, the trust gave a company, MahalaX, the right to run the resort.
Police spokesperson Brig Thembinkosi Kinana said the looting on Saturday took place in broad daylight with every single room in the resort burgled.
“The office areas were also broken into and all computers and projectors stolen,” said Kinana.
“A Quantum minibus was completely stripped on the premises. The damage incurred, including the stolen property, is estimated to be in the [region of] millions of rand.”
Some of the stolen items were recovered hidden in nearby bushes and Funeka Xawuka, 29, was arrested after police received a tip-off. She appeared in the Peddie Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. The case was postponed to Wednesday for a formal bail hearing.
Tap this link to read more on the downfall of the Fish River Resort.
Pictured above: The ransacked grounds of the multi-million rand resort.
Image source: Supplied
