FIFI PETERS: The Land Bank has been accused of utilizing aggressive methods and strong-arm techniques to liquidate farmers who are in monetary misery [and] who’ve defaulted on their loans. But the financial institution has denied these claims, saying its personal investigation achieved in July into such claims discovered no proof to assist these allegations, or the allegations that its authorized representatives acted unethically or used inappropriate practices to get better debt.
I’m joined by Musawenkosi Kubheka. He’s a forestry farmer in northern KZN. He was financed by the Land Bank in 2017. Musa, thanks a lot to your time. How a lot did the financial institution provide you with to begin your forestry farm, and what’s occurred to your farm now?
MUSAWENKOSI KUBHEKA: Greetings, Fifi, and all of the listeners. Our funds [came through] in 2017, November, for R25 million to buy three forestry farms, altogether saying at 2 100 hectares; roughly 1 200 hectares [was] planted timber.
Currently what’s occurring on the farm the financial institution has allotted the liquidator to be on the farm, and the liquidator has lower every inventory that I had available, each little stem that was standing on my farm is gone, taken away by the liquidator as a result of I can’t defend myself in court docket any extra.
FIFI PETERS: So how did you come to land in monetary misery? What occurred?
MUSAWENKOSI KUBHEKA: When I entered into farming in 2017, and disclosed to the financial institution that this was my first time truly shopping for a farm, so I’m very depending on them, simply ensuring that the whole lot is in place, as a result of I’ve by no means purchased a farm earlier than.
The vendor was not very clear as to why he was promoting the farm. He [told] me as a result of he’s transferring out of South Africa, solely to seek out out that he had labour points on the farm. So once I walked in, I walked into these labour points with the communities on the farm. It precipitated me not to really farm at my optimum at the moment in 2017/2018 monetary interval. So I needed to make it possible for the communities had calmed down and we had been capable of farm, as a result of each second day they had been [inaudible] the plantation, even after they had been threatening my life to put in the pre-packing. So I had to verify these issues [were] in place.
We couldn’t operate at our optimum play at the moment. So on my first yr, 2018, the primary instalment that I needed to pay the Land Bank was R4.2 million out of the R25 million debt. I couldn’t meet the duty of R4.2 million. And when the financial institution came over me in March in 2018, I did let the financial institution know guys, what I’m at present doing and what I’m turning over, I don’t assume it has been sensible to even meet the R4.2 million, not to mention it being a really steep instalment for me, given the type of exercise I’m doing.
But the financial institution’s response to me was ‘we don’t care, all we wish is our cash on the finish of the yr’. So that’s how I, in my first yr, ended in misery. In my second yr the timber trade went south, as a result of Covid-19. I misplaced nearly all my contracts in March, and by the point I needed to pay my second instalment in 2019 I couldn’t pay, as a result of I couldn’t promote my timber any extra. Then in 2020 the financial institution began its litigation issues. It took authorized motion in opposition to me throughout Level 3 lockdown.
FIFI PETERS: When did they place you in provisional liquidation?
MUSAWENKOSI KUBHEKA: I used to be positioned in provisional liquidation in October, 2021, as a result of from 2020 we had been arguing the matter on paper with the financial institution, till my matter was set down on the August 13, 2021. Then in October they let me know that I’m provisionally being liquidated.
FIFI PETERS: Do you assume there was any means that you can have finally turned what you are promoting round, such that you simply’d be in a place to pay again what you took, what you [borrowed] from the Land Bank?
MUSAWENKOSI KUBHEKA: Oh sure, Fifi. When I used to be referred to Mr James Craven in the authorized division, I engaged him additional saying: “You know what? I do have stock. Unfortunately, my stock takes nine years to mature. So with the current stock I have now for the next 23 years I will not be able to meet my obligations to you guys as the bank, but after that time I’ll be able to start meeting my obligations, and even beyond, because all these three farms at some point will be able to pay off the debt I have.”
And over and above that I went to at least one of my greatest purchasers, TWK, to help me in growing a correct spreadsheet and a correct cost time period to the financial institution, stating that: “Guys, we are capable of pay again the cash, simply not now. It’s only a matter of my inventory is not mature for me to reap and ship to the market. But the time will come. We have sufficient inventory that’s mature, to ship to the market and be capable of pay the financial institution. So if the mortgage that I used to be given over 25 years, by year-end 25, all the cash that you simply want needs to be given to you.
FIFI PETERS: All proper. Let’s broaden this dialog proper now. We’ve obtained Sydney Soundy, the manager supervisor of technique and communication on the Land Bank, who has been listening in on the dialog with Musawenkosi. Sydney, I feel that you simply heard the whole lot and I feel that, extra importantly, you heard the tone of a bit of frustration and a bit of disappointment in how he feels he was handled by the Land Bank. But what do you make of Musa’s story?
SYDNEY SOUNDY: Good night SAfm and Musa. I listened to Musa’s story and over the cliff on the within it is rather regarding. It can also be regarding to us, however I’m listening to the element of the actual fact as we communicate. So it’s vital that even from our aspect we do an acceptable evaluation of what truly went on.
But I feel from our aspect we do try to be sure that there are options that are sound earlier than we get to authorized motion. So, if in the case of Musa no makes an attempt will likely be made, that will likely be unlucky and it’s not how we usually function. And so we’ll discover out once we do an acceptable evaluation of what went on in this specific case.
FIFI PETERS: Case. Okay, so that you’re committing to doing that?
SYDNEY SOUNDY: Yes.
FIFI PETERS: But what about what you are studying in the media, the experiences of farmers saying that they’ve basically been victims of unscrupulous, very aggressive, strong-arm techniques with regards to assortment of their debt, particularly those that are not in a place to pay. You’ve refuted the claims, however the factor is that they’re nonetheless there. What is the Land Bank’s response to the truth that that is how some farmers are feeling?
SYDNEY SOUNDY: Yeah. As I indicated, it’s a priority that farmers really feel that means. But most of them have been elevating points, not essentially immediately with us, and we’ve made this level that these are our purchasers, and that the primary level of name for these varieties of conversations [should be] between the purchasers and the financial institution. So to the extent that these feedback are being made, which are worrying, we do specific our considerations round it, and we nonetheless enchantment to this consumer to interact with us immediately, as Musa has indicated he has already achieved that, and as I indicated, I’ll additionally be sure that from our aspect we get an acceptable evaluation of what occurred in the case of Musa.
But the large level to make is the next. We must work inside the confines of the legislation. So we solely actually function on the idea of what the authorized prescript of recoveries dictates of us. We can’t do something past the legislation. If there’s an aggression, which might be a matter of perspective and the best way the engagements are being undertaken with the consumer, these aggression-related actions we condemn. If there are such, we are going to cope with them on these particular circumstances.
FIFI PETERS: How do you reply to views that the explanation why the financial institution is so aggressive in the restoration of these loans is as a result of it’s well-known that the Land Bank itself is not in the healthiest monetary place that it has been in its current historical past. We all noticed the defaults of the Land Bank itself on curiosity that was owed to your collectors. And now there are views and there’s a notion that the explanation why you’re going so onerous on folks that owe you is to basically keep afloat. How do you reply to such views?
SYDNEY SOUNDY: The extent to which you’ll undergo a course of of authorized collections and restoration is, as I indicated, it’s a must to function inside the legislation. So you’ll be able to try to fast-track actions, however you are certain by the court docket in phrases of how you use. To that extent, from the purpose of view of the financial institution’s actions, we now have all the time adopted the identical method, the place we first begin by participating the purchasers the place they’re struggling or have challenges, to aim to resolve the problems earlier than we go to authorized [action], as a result of the authorized course of is not solely costly for the consumer, it’s additionally costly for the financial institution.
What is vital to additionally observe is that the financial institution trades in cash – I would like not simplify this. But to the extent that we get the funding from our lenders, our lenders additionally anticipate us to repay them. And so if we do not accumulate effectively from scheduled repayments, it additionally means that we are going to sit with a money shortfall to repay our personal lenders. So that’s why this course of has been undertaken on this foundation all through. It’s not as a result of of the present state of affairs that the mission is, as claimed, accelerated. The course of has all the time been undertaken on this similar foundation all through
FIFI PETERS: All proper, Sydney. Musa, I hope that you simply caught the half the place Sydney stated that they might contemplate your state of affairs. I don’t know if that gives some type of hope or excellent news for you.
MUSAWENKOSI KUBHEKA: Not actually, Fifi, as a result of in 2020, on April 14, earlier than they even took authorized motion in opposition to me, I did let Mr Sydney himself particularly, on his electronic mail and on his private line, know that I’m underneath this specific misery. What are you able to do to repair the matter? His response to me was: ‘I’ll get the info and get again to you.’ Up to at the present time I’m nonetheless ready for Mr Sydney to come back again with my problem.
And not solely that, I despatched him an electronic mail, even finally from the Department of Agriculture despatched him an electronic mail stating ‘guys, what’s occurring to this specific particular person or specific enterprise is unfair’.
But what I like, what he stated to me and to the listeners immediately, that he admits because the financial institution that there was no intervention by them to avoid wasting the state of affairs. All they did was to go straight into litigation.
I’m not positive if I’ll be asking an excessive amount of from the Land Bank, along with Mr Sydney, that my matter of the liquidation [set] down on September 9, 2022, that my problem will get faraway from court docket in order that it provides him sufficient time to go and examine, whereas I don’t must pay my lawyer or I’ve to go to court docket and my [inaudible] be taken away from me, as a result of proper now I can’t do something whereas he’s investigating. I’m nonetheless not doing something and all the cash I’ve invested into my enterprise has gone with the liquidator.
FIFI PETERS: Sydney, would you want to reply?
SYDNEY SOUNDY: Fifi, I don’t wish to get into the element. I feel with the facet that Musa indicated, he additionally quoted engagement with the financial institution in the shape of a selected identify that he talked about. So the engagement that occurred, I’ve indicated that what I’m going to do is to determine to what extent that has gone, and whether or not there have been any alternatives that we missed as a financial institution to resolve it.
I’m unable to make a dedication with out going by means of that course of of an acceptable evaluation.
So I can’t make the dedication that Musa is requesting. The dedication that I could make is that the financial institution will have a look at this facet in the element that it requires after which present that, the place there’s a risk for acceptable intervention, that intervention can be undertaken there. But that’s all I can commit in phrases of an acceptable investigation.
FIFI PETERS: I feel that’s understood at this at this stage, Musa. Do tell us how that goes. I might undoubtedly prefer to comply with up. But to each of you gents, thanks a lot to your time.
