OWN CORRESPONDENT | Sunday
THE Free State provincial government’s education ministry has joined its counterpart in the Northern Province and issued instructions to farmers to sign contracts that cede portions of their land away for educational purposes – or face expropriation, reports the Sunday Independent.
The Free State Agricultural Union (FSAU) has endorsed the province’s intentions: “We think the contracts are fair,” said Pieter Moller, the chief executive of the union.
However, not all farmers are behind the move and some have threatened to retaliate by destroying schools built on their farms. The threats have prompted the union to send out more of their representatives to convince farmers to sign contracts and avoid a confrontation.
A representative for the North West education authority says they are facing similar problems, but no decision regarding possible expropriation has been taken.
The latest developments follow closely on a campaign that was launched a fortnight ago by Edgar Mushwana, MEC for education in the Northern Province.
Mushwana gave farmers in the province until the end of this month to sign contracts allowing him to take control of schools on farms as well as give him vacant land to build more.
“We can’t even renovate these schools because they are still registered as the properties of farmers,” Mushwana said.
His Free State counterpart, Papi Kganare, added: “For the past four years we have been negotiating with the farmers to sign contracts to allow us control of the schools, but without much success.”
According to the union there are up to 1 500 schools on farms in the Free State.
Kganare said his department was “taking stock” of which schools to target.
“Education is a right in this country and we must ensure it is as accessible as possible.”
He said the provincial government “had to go the constitutional court to force the farmers to sign the contract. The failure to sign the contract constitutes a contravention of the constitution.”
The only other choice the government had was simply going the route of expropriation, Kganare said. “We have already warned the farmers. We have given them until the end of this month to sign the contract.”