Armed guards block access by rightful owners to Fish River resort

Armed security personnel working for a US-based investment group are continuing to block thePrudhoe community, who own theFish River resortnear Port Alfred, from accessing the property, despite several court rulings ordering the company to vacate the site. The courts have instructed businesswoman Vuyokazi Batana, who represents the company in SA, to halt all work at the former casino hotel and leave the premises. On Monday, members of the Prudhoe community — who secured ownership of the property after a protracted land claim — blocked the resort’s entrance to stop Batana, who still occupies the site, from bringing in a new construction crew.

“We told them that they won’t do any work because MamTshawe [Batana] is not here and we do not know you,” said a community member. “We told them to turn around and leave. We told them to tell MamTshawe [Batana] what we said and they called her.

“MamTshawe takes scrap metal [stripped from the former hotel during renovations] and sells it but we don’t see this money. They have taken four loads [of scrap]. “Today another truck came and we turned them away.” Security guards stationed at the gates refused the Dispatch entry to the resort, saying access might have been possible had journalists arranged the visit in advance.

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This came after one of the guards claimed he phoned Batana to inform her that workers were speaking to the media. The guard said entry could only be considered after first consulting Batana. “You can’t go in because you did not go through her first.

You should have spoken with her first. I can’t allow you to go through,” he said. Batana, meanwhile, had refused to comment or engage with the Dispatch when called on Friday and ignored calls and messages on Monday.

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