Pomfret: mercenary town?

The town of Pomfret will be razed to the ground by December despite a recent assessment by the national department of public works showing that it could be developed into a fully fledged local authority.

Bob Namusi, a councillor at the Molopo Local Municipality, under which the town falls, says the national public works department had mistakenly given residents of Pomfret the impression that the asbestos-polluted town could be rehabilitated without its residents moving.

‘Of course not all members of the community want to leave,” says Namusi, ‘but some are saying they can’t stay in a place where there is no work. There are no projects happening in Pomfret.”

The population of Pomfret, a North West town about 180km north of Vryburg and a former South African Defence Force (SADF) army base, is estimated at between 3 000 and 5 000. In 1989 6 000 former Angolans, including members of the 32 Battalion and their dependants, were settled there and given South African citizenship by the SADF as a reward for their participation in the war against against Namibia’s Swapo guerrillas, MK soldiers and other anti-apartheid fighters. The unit was dissolved in 1993.

Angela McIntyre, a researcher who has been working with the Pomfret community, says the media have created the impression that the town is inhabited only by members of 32 Batallion. The perception has contributed to the post-1994 government’s alleged ill-treatment of the community.

McIntyre says that in 1989 a comprehensive asbestos rehabilitation programme was initiated. The programme needs to be regularly maintained, a process, she says, which is relatively inexpensive and can be carried out by the community.

‘The government’s perception is that Pomfret is a security threat. How can it be when many of its inhabitants are disabled?” ask McIntyre. ‘Of the 5 000 people living there, about 200 of them are 32 Battallion veterans. Most are over 60 and 70 years old. Many combatants left to join the 2SAI and are based in Zeerust. The ones who stayed behind are definitely not fit for service. They are mostly descendants and dependants who are being punished for the sins of their fathers.”

McIntyre says that in the late 1990s the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) wanted to resettle Pomfret residents in Rustenburg and Zeerust, but the community approached Popo Molefe, then premier of North West, who agreed to let them stay in exchange for their support of the ANC. Since then attempts to dismantle the town have mounted, especially since it was reported that nine men from Pomfret were part of the mercenary group involved in the plot to unseat the government of Equatorial Guinea in 2004. The incident lent credence to the government’s theory that the town was an untapped pool of mercenaries who could easily be mobilised.

Department of Defence spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi says that the relocation of people from Pomfret has nothing to do with a perceived security threat, but is a result of the department’s housing policy and its compassion for its former employees. ‘You are provided accommodation only if you’re a member of the force,” says Mkhwanazi.

‘The important issue here is asbestos. As a caring department, these people have a constitutional right as South African citizens not to live in an area that will negatively impact on their health. We have found about 400 houses for them in other areas of North West.”

Adriaan Vorster, a lawyer representing the Pomfret community, says the inhabitants are protected by the provisions of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act and the Unlawful Occupation of Land Act. ‘To evict them the government must apply for an eviction order. At this stage we do not know who is going to lodge that application, if at all.”

The department of public works had not responded at the time of going to press.

Meanwhile, the Mail & Guardian has learned that the North West government had called on the SANDF to assist with the forced removal of Pomfret’s reesidents.

In an email sent by a source close to the community, government officials again mentioned that the people of Pomfret ‘opposed the liberation struggle”, despite the fact only 5% of the community are former apartheid soldiers. Most residents are now elderly and some are disabled.