The restitution of land to those previously dispossessed of it will not result in a stoppage of agricultural production in South Africa, the Land Claims Commission said on Wednesday.
Fears to this effect are being propagated by a minority ”who believe that if you give land to blacks nothing will happen on that land”, said chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya.
The government needs strategic partners to make the process work, and there are many commercial farmers committed to helping build a new generation of agriculturists, he said.
The Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) stands by its contention that restitution claims have been lodged for at least 70% of commercial farming land in Limpopo and Mpumalanga — the two provinces with the highest percentage of claims.
This was disputed by Gwanya, who said about 20% of commercial agricultural land has been claimed nationally — and up to 50% in the two provinces.
He also rejected the union’s claim that failed restitution projects have cost the country millions of rands. There have been some problems — but these have been overshadowed by the successes.
He could not give figures in this regard, but said ”it is definitely not millions”.
The commission is at pains to ensure that claimants intend putting the land to good use, Gwanya said. A viable land use plan is important, though not a prerequisite.
The government assists upcoming farmers with a settlement planning grant and training programmes.
”Once a claim has been validated there has to be a careful balancing act [between the interests of the claimants and the future of the land],” Gwanya said.
TAU labour and property rights manager Jack Loggenberg described the restitution process as a big flop.
”The government realises this — that is why it is increasingly trying to get current land owners involved [in development],” he said.
The union is now more concerned about the effects of restitution than ever before, given the pending enactment of an expropriation clause of the Restitution of Land Rights Act.
An amendment Bill was approved by Parliament last year, which empowers the minister of agriculture and land affairs to expropriate land without a court order.
This has the potential of ruining the country, Loggenberg said.
”Property rights are the cornerstone of a freemarket system. If that is taken away or damaged, the economy of the country will go down the drain.”
The TAU intends fighting the clause with all its might, and is considering legal action.
Agri SA said most successful restitution claimants have trouble with farming in the beginning. There have been some reversals in production, but no critical financial losses.
”To get a process like this under way will always cost money. It is a learning curve. But if we don’t start somewhere, we will never know where we are supposed to end up.”
The Democratic Alliance said restitution is important to make amends for the forced removal of people from their land by the apartheid government.
”But at the same time, productive commercial farms must be maintained to sustain the agricultural economy and ensure that South Africa is never faced with the food deficits experienced in Zimbabwe.”
To ensure this, the government has to maintain the trust and cooperation of existing farmers and harness their skills. But the new expropriation legislation has done exactly the opposite, it said.
The Pan Africanist Congress said there can be no genuine liberation and democracy without the just resolution of the land question. It lamented the fate of thousands who are still landless and are evicted from land daily.
”The land question cannot be ignored forever without making what is happening in Zimbabwe look like a nice afternoon picnic,” the PAC warned. – Sapa