Estimates of the number of black South Africans who want to become farmers may have been exaggerated, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Friday.
Joining the racially charged debate over ownership of agricultural land in South Africa, he said a recent research report indicated only 9% of black people who are not currently farming wish to do so.
In his weekly newsletter on the DA’s SA Today website, Leon said the same report also showed black South Africans are demanding urban and peri-urban land, not rural land for farming.
Speaking last week at the national land summit, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza said the African National Congress inherited one of the worst racially skewed land-redistribution problems in the world, with whites owning 87% and blacks 13% of agricultural land.
Undoing this apartheid legacy is a fundamental priority for South Africa, she said.
At the same venue, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka announced government plans to review the so-called willing-buyer-willing-seller principle, which has been the keystone of its land-reform policy over the past decade.
Leon warned rejection of this principle by many delegates at the summit means land reform in South Africa ”has reached a potentially dangerous turning point”.
The ANC has carefully adhered to the willing-buyer-willing-seller principle ”since the interim Constitution was agreed to in 1993”.
He said its plans to re-examine this principle threatens to ”reignite one of the most contentious issues in our society”. It could also frighten away foreign investors.
Leon said there are several important realities that have to be considered in the land-reform debate.
Among these is recognising that while agriculture is an important part of the economy, it only accounts for a small fraction of the nation’s output.
”Farming can create new jobs and new wealth, but overall it is a limited tool for achieving broad-based black economic empowerment and reducing poverty. Furthermore, the proportion of black South Africans who wish to become farmers may have been exaggerated.
”A recent national survey commissioned by the Centre for Development and Enterprise indicated that only 9% of black people who are not currently farming wish to become farmers.
”The greatest demand among black South Africans is for urban and peri-urban land for living, not rural land for farming. In this context, the government’s land-reform goals seem outrageously ambitious,” Leon said.
Over the past 10 years, the government has only redistributed about 1% of agricultural land.
”Last year, in the ANC’s 2004 election manifesto, the ruling party promised to redistribute 30% of agricultural land by 2014. And this year, the draft AgriBEE charter has doubled that goal, aiming to redistribute 60% of agricultural land in the next nine years.
”These targets are completely unrealistic, given the inadequate amount of money allocated to land reform … and the incapacity of the government to implement such an ambitious programme.”
Leon said that despite repeated criticism of the market and the willing-buyer-willing-seller principle, studies suggest ”the private sector may be redistributing more land than the public sector”.
There is ”more than a hint of racism and xenophobia in the government’s recent suggestions that land should be classified by race and that foreign ownership should be restricted”.
Far from increasing taxes on farm land, as suggested by Didiza, land tax should be reduced, to help more farmers succeed and survive.
Leon also called for skills training for would-be farmers.
”Aspiring farmers should be provided with comprehensive courses in agricultural management before receiving state assistance.
”That will ensure that land provided to new farmers will be a long-term investment, not a short-term loss.”
South Africa needs a new kind of dialogue on land reform, where suspicion and hysteria give way to a spirit of cooperation and understanding, Leon said. — Sapa