Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza says she will not recommend to Cabinet that South Africa follows the same land reform policy as Zimbabwe.
In written reply to a parliamentary question from Andries Botha (DA), she said: ”South Africa’s land policy will not change and will continue as stipulated under the Constitution, relevant acts of Parliament and the rule of law.”
The benefits of current policy were that every citizen was protected under the law, while the disadvantage was that ”some individuals may want to exploit the situation to score political points”.
Referring to her recent visit to Zimbabwe, Didiza said she was able to observe that there had been ”an agricultural production displacement due to land reform”.
Zimbabwe’s tobacco crop for 2003 was estimated at 85-million kilograms as opposed to 171-million kilograms in 1999.
There had also been a decrease in the output of all other crops. This is included up to a 40 percent decrease in large-scale commercial summer cereals, such as soya beans, maize, sunflowers and ground nuts.
However, it was expected that these crops would be restored to 1999 levels in the next two seasons or so, Didiza said. – Sapa