Emotions boiled over at a land conference recently, revealing deep rifts in approaches to land reform in South Africa.
Heated exchanges also suggested a split in government views on the matter, with Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza later criticising national land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya for his “irresponsible statements”.
In discussions at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Johannesburg a week ago Gwanya, AgriSA vice-president Lourie Bosman, Michelle Festus of the National Land Commission (NLC) and Jack Loggenberg of the Transvaal Agriculture Union (TAU) struggled to control their tempers. Festus said farmers’ attitude to transformation was shocking: “Farm workers are killed for less than a tomato.”
Bosman reacted angrily: “We can say farmers have been murdered for a frozen chicken and it would probably be truer.”
The Mail & Guardian reported in August that the government had revised its proposed amendments to the Land Restitution Bill. The revisions provide that payments for land the government wants to expropriate must be decided by a court. But farmer unions remain anxious about land reform.
Bosman demanded proof of Festus’s “ludicrous statement”. “There is a legal process to deal with such cases,” he said. “We condemn farmers who mistreat their workers and in this day and age, it is very rare. Such statements are highly irresponsible.”
Gwanya, meanwhile, warned white farmers in South Africa that a situation similar to that in Zimbabwe was not far off if they did not cooperate. He lambasted farmers who were asking too much for their land, accusing them of making land reform impossible.
He said: “White Zimbabwe farmers are to blame for the current situ- ation [in their country] because of their uncooperative attitude.”
He attacked the TAU for what he saw as its uncooperative attitude, and for what he called their “restitution resistance fund”, which he said made a mockery of land restitution.
He accused the TAU of obstructing claims and being hostile to claimants. Loggenberg exploded at this, but was not given the opportunity to take him on in the discussion.
“He is talking kak,” Loggenberg told the M&G, referring to Gwanya’s mention of a “restitution resistance fund”. “We have no such fund. We only have a fund that supports farmers who feel their claim has not been handled right and want to go to court to prove it.
“Just as Cosatu [the Congress of South African Trade Unions] has a fund for workers to go to court for unfair dismissals, we support farmers who believe they have got a rough deal. That is our constitutional right,” he said. “Gwanya has never bothered to talk to us and get his facts straight.”
Bosman said Gwanya’s statement that farmers were asking too much for their land was untrue.
“Farmers get independent evaluators to determine a price. We are committed to working with government on land restitution. We want to settle claims as fast as possible.”
Didiza is not very impressed with Gwanya’s outburst, either. Her spokesperson, Nana Zenani, criticised the land commissioner in Beeld the next day, saying: “Gwanya never should have made such comments.
“We will not follow the same route as Zimbabwe. Land reform is on track in South Africa.”