PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
South Africa: Why South Africa lurches towards land redistribution crisis, By Craig Urquhart, PANA Correspondent, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Any South Africans underestimating the enormity of the country’s land redistribution problems – one of many legacies of apartheid – would do well to reflect on the situation in Zimbabwe where the economy imploded after a violent land seizure a decade ago.
Many argue that South Africa cannot be compared to its northern neighbor, but the reality remains that Pretoria has made little progress in resolving the land impasse since Nelson Mandela swept into power two decades ago.
The issue is back in the spotlight after Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti this week told Parliament that black South Africans, who were left landless because of the Apartheid policies, have been “bending over backwards” to resolve the impasse and are now growing impatient.
“It is unsustainable. We cannot go on like this,” he said.
Nkwinti is now proposing land reform initiatives which, if enacted, would see farmers giving half of their land to their workers. The reaction has been fast and furious and there are deep divisions over the issue.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said the proposals are a recipe for disaster.
“They will exacerbate insecurity, destroy jobs, escalate the already catastrophic exodus of farming expertise from the industry, and have dire implications for food security in the medium-term,” said DA leader, Helen Zille.
Economic Freedom Fighters spokesman Andile Mngzitama said farm workers would face mass evictions because of the proposal.
Cornelius van Rensburg, of the farming organization AfriSake, warned that it would lead to widespread labour unrest in the agricultural sector.
He said government was creating expectations among agricultural workers which could not be met.
“Should the plan be implemented, nothing will prohibit the implementation of similar policy in any other sector of the economy. Every worker in every industry will legally be able to demand a 50% ownership stake in the assets of their employer,” he said.
However, Zizi Kodwa, spokesman of the ruling African National Congress said the policy was necessary to annul the injustices of the past and give practical expression to the demand that "the land shall be shared amongst those who work it".
Just over 100 years ago, in June, 1913, South Africa’s 1913 Natives’ Land Act was passed. This legislation effectively excluded the black population from the ownership of some 90% of the country's land.
When the African National Congress swept into power in 1994, some 60,000 white commercial farmers owned almost 70% of land classified as agricultural and leased a further 19%.
The ANC pledged to redistribute 30% of white-owned agricultural land to black farmers by 1999, and to restitute property lost as a result of racist legislation.
By 2012, about 8 million hectares had been transferred, only about a third of the amount originally targeted.
An estimated $3.2 billion was spent on the land reform programme between 1994 and 2013 – equivalent to a single year’s budget for housing development.
And yet, the slow progress of land redistribution has become a burning issue – just like it did a decade ago when white Zimbabwean farmers saw their farms ignited and the economy went up in smoke. The warnings are there for all to see.
-0- PANA CU/MA 28June2014
Many argue that South Africa cannot be compared to its northern neighbor, but the reality remains that Pretoria has made little progress in resolving the land impasse since Nelson Mandela swept into power two decades ago.
The issue is back in the spotlight after Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti this week told Parliament that black South Africans, who were left landless because of the Apartheid policies, have been “bending over backwards” to resolve the impasse and are now growing impatient.
“It is unsustainable. We cannot go on like this,” he said.
Nkwinti is now proposing land reform initiatives which, if enacted, would see farmers giving half of their land to their workers. The reaction has been fast and furious and there are deep divisions over the issue.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said the proposals are a recipe for disaster.
“They will exacerbate insecurity, destroy jobs, escalate the already catastrophic exodus of farming expertise from the industry, and have dire implications for food security in the medium-term,” said DA leader, Helen Zille.
Economic Freedom Fighters spokesman Andile Mngzitama said farm workers would face mass evictions because of the proposal.
Cornelius van Rensburg, of the farming organization AfriSake, warned that it would lead to widespread labour unrest in the agricultural sector.
He said government was creating expectations among agricultural workers which could not be met.
“Should the plan be implemented, nothing will prohibit the implementation of similar policy in any other sector of the economy. Every worker in every industry will legally be able to demand a 50% ownership stake in the assets of their employer,” he said.
However, Zizi Kodwa, spokesman of the ruling African National Congress said the policy was necessary to annul the injustices of the past and give practical expression to the demand that "the land shall be shared amongst those who work it".
Just over 100 years ago, in June, 1913, South Africa’s 1913 Natives’ Land Act was passed. This legislation effectively excluded the black population from the ownership of some 90% of the country's land.
When the African National Congress swept into power in 1994, some 60,000 white commercial farmers owned almost 70% of land classified as agricultural and leased a further 19%.
The ANC pledged to redistribute 30% of white-owned agricultural land to black farmers by 1999, and to restitute property lost as a result of racist legislation.
By 2012, about 8 million hectares had been transferred, only about a third of the amount originally targeted.
An estimated $3.2 billion was spent on the land reform programme between 1994 and 2013 – equivalent to a single year’s budget for housing development.
And yet, the slow progress of land redistribution has become a burning issue – just like it did a decade ago when white Zimbabwean farmers saw their farms ignited and the economy went up in smoke. The warnings are there for all to see.
-0- PANA CU/MA 28June2014
