South African sugarcane farmers are concerned about the recent move by Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza to introduce an amendment to the Restitution of Land Rights Act, South African Cane Growers chairperson Bruce Galloway said in a speech on Wednesday.
The amendments give Didiza sweeping powers and allow the acquisition and expropriation of land without the authority of a court order.
“While we understand the need to streamline and fast track the process where agreement cannot be reached with the landowner, the sweeping nature of the powers being requested by the minister is creating anxiety among the farming community, due to the possibility that this legislation could be misused,” Galloway said.
How well or how badly the issue of land distribution is handled determines to a great extent the success of the agricultural sector and the nation, he added.
“Our major concern is not over the legislation but over the lack of delivery in implementation of the processes that have been in place for some years,” Galloway said.
Under the existing land restitution process, land is being redistributed under a willing buyer/willing seller open market process.
To expedite the process of land claims, the Cane Growers’ Association has entered into a private-public partnership with the Land Claims Commission in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Unfortunately, there has been an abysmal lack of delivery by the Land Claims Commissioners’ officers in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga,” Galloway said.
The land claims programme is a good concept but plagued by inefficient implementation and a lack of funding, he added.
“Cane growers are eager to assist in delivery of these processes. We have met with the Land Claims Commissioners in Pietermaritzburg and in Nelspruit to discuss the issue of non-delivery. We have also recently had the opportunity to interact with the Director General of Land Affairs,” Galloway said.
Cane Growers’ Association vice chairperson Tim Murray said that South African sugar farmers needed to focus on improving their efficiency to be globally competitive.
“Sugar industries are the most protected of all commodities and increasing talks of liberalisation impact directly on the importance of competitiveness. This competitiveness encompasses the whole sugar value chain, from technology research to the final product enjoyed by the consumer,” Murray said.
Researchers suggest that only Brazil, Australia, Thailand and partly South Africa will withstand the wrath of a liberalised sugar industry, he added.
“At the time of the study, South Africa had the advantage of lower wages as well as lower environmental and social standards,” Murray said.
The three major costs for sugar cane farmers are labour, fertilizer, and chemicals and cane transport.
The recent introduction of the Sectoral Determination for Farmer Workers saw the introduction of minimum wage legislation in the country and has focused attention on labour issues.
“The training of staff impacts directly on improved efficiencies. Training is often the reason cited by growers who have achieved productivity improvements and is the essential ingredient of personnel and labour productivity improvement,” Murray said.
Another issue impacting sugar farmers’ productivity is the prevalence of HIV/Aids. – I-Net Bridge