Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson says whistleblowers have provided information about an alleged scheme to subdivide and sell state-owned land at Knoflokskraal in the Western Cape for about R1,500 a plot, with evidence of suspected fraud and extortion handed to law enforcement authorities.
Briefing the media on Monday, Macpherson said the department had received a database containing details of approximately 820 people who had allegedly purchased or received land allocations through the system.
“In June, whistleblowers provided information alleging the existence of an organised system through which state-owned land was being subdivided and sold,” he said.
The allegations concern Knoflokskraal, a 2,000-hectare tract of state-owned land comprising six farms in the Elgin Valley near Grabouw.
Macpherson said the information received included details of payments and identified individuals, including community leaders, who were allegedly involved in the transactions.
The government had also received allegations that illegal levies were being collected from residents to fund unauthorised activities or serve as protection fees linked to the unlawful allocation and subdivision of land.
“In plain language, this is called extortion, which is also criminal and illegal,” Macpherson said.
The department submitted a formal criminal complaint affidavit to the South African Police Service (SAPS) in July. It also handed over whistleblower disclosures, supporting documents and security reports relating to alleged illegal land sales, fraud, assault and arson.
Macpherson said the department was seeking the involvement of additional specialised investigative policing branches to investigate the allegations.
Parallel policing structure
The minister said the government had also received information about an unauthorised parallel policing structure allegedly operating at the site.
The structure allegedly exercised policing functions reserved for the SAPS. The information included allegations of organised ranks, enforcement activities and paramilitary-type training facilities.
There were also reports of shootings, violence, intimidation, assaults and obstruction of government officials, contractors and security personnel. Emergency personnel had allegedly been threatened while performing their duties, he said.
“When firefighters cannot safely respond to a fire, when contractors cannot safely access government property, and when officials cannot perform their lawful duties, the state has a responsibility to act,” Macpherson said.
He also detailed incidents in May when the department attempted to establish communication channels with residents.
On May 15, a contractor attempting to deploy repurposed containers at access points encountered a hostile crowd. One container was set alight, a security guardhouse was damaged and a security officer was allegedly assaulted with a crowbar. Macpherson said the alleged assailant was a community leader occupying the site.
A second attempt later that month was also met with resistance and obstruction.
Despite these incidents, Macpherson said residents had begun providing information directly to the government, including information about alleged criminal syndicates and unlawful land sales.
More than R58m spent on security
The department incurred more than R58 million in private tactical security costs associated with Knoflokskraal between April 2021 and June 2026, Macpherson said.
A further R5,47m was spent on sheriff's fees associated with serving and enforcing court orders.
The security expenditure had been drawn from the department's baseline budget and other service delivery programmes.
“These are enormous amounts of public money,” Macpherson said.
''They demonstrate the consequences of allowing a situation to continue without a sustainable resolution, as well as the costs associated with ignoring the rule of law.
''This cannot become the permanent model of governance at Knoflokskraal,'' Macpherson said.
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