A Namibian land official rejected reports on Friday that his government intended seizing about 100 farms owned by South Africans.
”I can tell you in no uncertain terms that this is not true,” Chrispin Matongela, representative for the Namibian Land Ministry said.
However, he admitted that this could happen at some stage in the future. The ministry issued a statement on Thursday which he said was aimed at putting to rest fears about landgrabs.
”This was after commercial farmers voiced concerns about reports about the government seizing farms. We assured them that no landgrabs were on the cards,” Matongela said.
On earlier reports quoting Namibian President Sam Nujoma as saying that a number of foreign-owned farms would be expropriated for landless Namibians, Matongela said: ”We don’t think along those lines.”
No land owned by foreigners had been expropriated so far, he emphasised.
”It is not on the cards for now, maybe in the future.”
Asked what this meant, Matongela said: ”We follow the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle. Should it become necessary in the future to expropriate farms, this would be done in terms of our constitution.”
Such a process, he said, would, among other things, entail compensating the land owners concerned in terms of the market value of their property.
Earlier in the day it was reported that the Democratic Alliance in South Africa had asked the ministries of foreign affairs and agriculture to intervene on behalf of nationals whose Namibian farms were set to be expropriated.
DA MP Andries Botha confirmed that he had submitted such a request.
”My concern is that proper procedures should be followed in any expropriation move. Land owners should be consulted and compensated.” Botha said his request was prompted by media reports that Namibia intended expropriating the property of those labelled absentee-landlords.
A Foreign Affairs official said the department was still gathering information on the matter. – Sapa