The government was to blame for the perceived failure of the willing buyer, willing seller land reform policy, Deputy Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom said, according to a report on Thursday.
Hanekom, the former minister of agriculture and land affairs, was speaking at a Grain South Africa event in Bothaville in the Free State.
He said the government did not understand the land reform process, reported Sake24.
Hanekom said the government should be blamed if it paid more for the land than what it was worth.
“If you sell your land, you sell it for the highest price,” he was quoted in Afrikaans as saying. “And if the government pays more than what it is worth, then the blame must be laid at the government’s door.”
Hanekom assured the 500 farmers present that Zimbabwe-like land grabs would not happen in South Africa.
The ANC released policy discussion documents earlier this week which stated that the current willing buyer, willing seller policy was distorting prices and recommended that a land management commission be established to develop guidelines and land management.
It proposed a land valuer general to help bring consistency to land values and determine financial compensation in cases of land expropriation. — Sapa