Maun woman tells of how she ‘lost’ her camp business

Eunice Hadour is living in distress after she and her husband were conned of their tented camp business in Maun. The two claim to have lost the four-hectare plot situated on an island in NG12 to a South African Afrikaner businessman who pretended to be buying a 60 percent stake in the company. Hadour is an indigenous Motswana from Shakawe while her husband is a naturalised Motswana who is originally British. Hadour said that the man had approached her and her husband and expressed interest in buying a stake in the company. “The agreement was that we would give him a 60 percent stake,” she said. She said after the agreement, the man told them that he had an offshore account and to access the funds to pay them their stake, he had to have the share certificate so that the funds could be released. The man has apparently changed all documentation. Asked how he got his hands on the title deed, Hadour explained that there was one occasion when they wanted to travel to Palapye to change the title deed status and he had volunteered to drop it off on their behalf. “He smooth talked us and said it would be an unnecessary expense for us to travel just to take a document.” Hadour said that they noticed that something was amiss when the man’s father-in-law told some of their customers that they would soon be taking over the camp. Realising what had happened, the couple lodged a case against the man. Hadour noted that in court the man used fraudulent statements and witnesses as well as financial transactions. The case was heard at the Lobatse High Court over the years. Hadour said that in the initial stages the incident had put such a strain on her that she had to be hospitalised as she was pregnant at the time. “I was admitted to a South African hospital for almost two months and my baby had developed a heart condition. Meanwhile, back home, these people had taken over the camp,” she said with a quivering voice. Hadour said that the most painful part was that she had not even received a single Thebe from this. She said they suspected corruption as no one took them seriously. “There are some people we heard they had bought off with cheap cars and tuckshops.” After a court case that started four years ago, and knocking from door to door asking for help in their case, they are now on the verge of losing hope. She said that the man implicated in the matter has threatened to sue them should they mention his name in the media. “We recently received a letter from his lawyer stipulating that legal action would be taken against us if we mentioned his name,” she said. Hadour said their standard of living had detoriorated as they had no source of income and were now struggling to make ends meet. “We both studied tourism and that is all we know. This man seems to have closed doors for us because people want nothing to do with us. They are all friends and the way I see it, they have spoken about us and are in this together – no one even listens to us,” she said. She added that they would have to settle for anything, even maid jobs to make ends meet because the situation has become bleak, their last money having been milked by legal and medical fees. She said they were also forced to move their children from private schools to government schools because of their changed economic status. Hadour said the man often boasted that they had heard that some Batswana sold their land in exchange for bags of maize meal and clothes. “They said they told their friends in South Africa that there is land galore in Botswana especially in the North. Some of them trick locals. They can buy a plot for a mere P5000. Some of them claim to be leasing and ask the locals to sign documents while others forge their signatures. They don’t explain anything to them or intentionally trick them.” Hadour cautioned Batswana to be cautious on issues of land and businessmen who claimed to want to buy their businesses, property and land. “There are crooks out there. I never imagined that something like this could happen to me.” She told The Midweek Sun that she had been to the Ministry of Tourism and even DCEC to try and seek help with no success. “We once even met Minister Tshekedi Khama who seemed sympathetic but advised us to wait for the court process to take its course. We now want to go back to him and see if there is nothing we can do to help us,” she said.