Barry Streek Provincial land MECs were given a direct lesson last week on the implementation of land reform in Zimbabwe after Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza invited them to a meeting to discuss the realities of farmer settlement. Professor Sam Moyo addressed the MECs on land reform and farm settlement in Zimbabwe without, it is understood, any critical analysis of the Zimbabwean government’s land policies.
The MECs were called to the meeting in Pretoria after Didiza wrote to them informing them of her recent visit to Zimbabwe where “I was able to garner their support and assistance on the issue of helping us to understand the realities of implementation of farmer settlement”. After its meeting in Pretoria on Wednesday, the South African Cabinet said it had “noted developments in Zimbabwe with regard to the land reform programme, and it reiterated the commitment of the South African government to continue dialogue with the Zimbabwean government in pursuit of economic recovery and social stability”. In Zimbabwe, the government has sanctioned invasions of commercial farms and has embarked on a strategy of annexing farms resulting in marked decline in commercial farming activity in the country. Meanwhile, Deacon Mathe, chair of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association, has disclosed in an interview with Die Burger that negotiations have been taking place to redeploy 46E000 workless veterans as farmers. He said his organisation has already started negotiations with the Land Bank and Didiza’s department, and has visited the Northern Province to see how they could get ground “legally”. State-owned land – more than 100-million hectares – was first on their list. The Western Cape Department of Agriculture has received a letter, bearing an African National Congress Western Cape branch stamp, as well as a list of land in the Western Cape from the provincial branch of the veterans’ association. In the letter the association says it is going to visit the farm Kykoe near Uniondale.
The 350ha farm is presently unoccupied but has been transferred to Didiza’s department to be advertised for letting.