The first donation out of the Free State business sector for the promotion of land reform was handed to the farmers’ union Free State Agriculture (FSA) on Monday.
FSA received R60 000 from Old Mutual, which will be used to cover the running costs of people who act as mentors in land reform projects.
FSA president Louw Steytler said it was hoped that the donation would be the first of many from business, because successful land reform was in the interest of all South Africans.
”If we do not succeed in an orderly fashion with land reform in South Africa, the livelihoods of each and every citizen will be at threat as we are all inter-dependent on each other,” Steytler said. The Free State accounts for a third of all land reform projects countrywide.
Steytler ascribed this to the ”good understanding” between FSA, provincial Premier Winkie Direko and MEC for Agriculture Mann Oelrich and his department.
Provincial Department of Agriculture director Jacques Olivier said during the past three months 104 new farmers were settled on 12 land reform farms totalling 3 000 hectares in the Free State. Land reform beneficiaries had taken ownership of 58 047 hectares while the target was to redistribute 30% of all agricultural land or 3,5 million hectares in the province by 2016, Olivier said. – Sapa