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The Rural Development and Land Reform Minister recently published proposals which will require commercial farmers in South Africa to give over half their land to the workers. The farmers are not going to be paid for this and have approximately 10 months to comment on it. It does sound, as somebody remarked to me, very much like Zimbabwe, and although everybody seems to feel that there is a need for land reform, there is no doubt that something like this will terrify foreign investors and it is certainly going to touch a raw nerve in South Africa.
I must be honest when I hear stories like this, 20 years into a new democracy, it really does sound like a vote getting tactic so that you can appear that you are the party that is trying to sort out the land issue. If this was a burning issue, you can rest assured that Nelson Mandela would have dealt with it somewhere between 1994 to 1999. One can imagine all manner of fights breaking out with the 50% of the farm that is meant to be divided according to how the workers have contributed to it. In other words, how long they have worked on that farm and what work one assumes they have done. It really does not sound to me that laws like this could be constitutional, particularly if the farmer is not compensated. One can only imagine that there are better ways of achieving this goal and one could possibly start with land that is owned by the State. It is not just about land rights for everyone, even though that is an important goal. What is also extremely important is to ensure that food production remains constant and cost effective in South Africa.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Thursday 10-Jul-14
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Comments
Refilwe said:
on Friday 11-Jul-14 03:20 PM
I will not be surprised if there is a farm workers strike outburst from this because once they are aware of this they will turn against their employers and side with the government, which is not surprising at all. Stupid government!
Liesl said:
on Friday 11-Jul-14 12:45 PM
We want farms for free but cannot farm, cannot care to farm, upkeep or run the farm effectively. I thought this project has already proven itself to be a great failure. If this happens our country is going to suffer a hard blow and immeasurable losses.
Angelique said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 03:40 PM
I would sell my land if I were a farmer and urgently. This is so unfair and I too will lose hope in our justice system and government (well I already have!) if this takes place. No one can use this previously disadvantaged excuse in my opinion anymore. Everyone has equal opportunity if not, then most people that were previously disadvantaged is either deceased or given more of an opportunity. So if you own a hotel... will workers be able to own half of it too? If you employ a domestic worker can she get half of your property? This will lead to people being bitter and our farms being unproductive and going down. You think farmers will be motivated to produce food etc if they have to give their land away? Not impressed!
Jade said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 11:32 AM
I would seriously lose all faith in our legal system if the Con Court comes to a decision that this is fair under our new democratic Constitution.
Section 25(1) states: No one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property.
Furthermore: (2) Property may be expropriated only in terms of law of general application--
(a) for a public purpose or in the public interest; and
(6) subject to compensation, the amount of which and the time and manner of payment of which have either been agreed to by those affected or decided or approved by a court
Perhaps they could argue that as a result of deep inequality of the 'haves' and 'have nots' this is indeed in the public interest but certainly not without fair compensation. Furthermore, one would have to consider that there may be far better and fairer processes/ approaches to this problem that we could utilize to ensure land reform. Thus making this approach unacceptable.
I definitely think, giving state owned land to those who have a proven claim would be a good option. However, I agree with many concerns voiced in the comments about the lack of skills to utilise land as being a manual labourer and managing a farm have separate skill sets.
The proverb:
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" seems to ring true here. Perhaps the Government should be looking to support their citizens to allow them to better themselves through programmes, through investment & through education and guidance. This would have long term benefits.
nikita said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 10:31 AM
As a result of Apartheid legislation, the agriculture sector in SA today is almost exclusively commercial, and major inequalities in farming have become entrenched. Today, only around 36,000, predominantly white commercial farmers are responsible for providing 95 percent of South Africas locally-produced food. Government has tried to address these inequalities through land redistribution programmes& which have largely been described as unsuccessful. You hear horror stories from the new emerging farmers about how they are given land and not support in terms of farming implements and capital! I can see how they are trying to bridge the gap between the small scale farmers and the commercial farmers& but without the support and proper training this is just another Zimbabwe story. Be that as it may& this is extremely unfair on these farmers that live and breathe their farm. Working night and day to have it be as successful as it is. Imagine they decided they are now going to give 50% of all companies to the employees? It is exactly the same.
Jolene said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 10:07 AM
Can I please have 50% of Nkandla, I worked hard to build it and still do to keep it in perfect condition!
Sarah said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 09:16 AM
This is ridiculous and so unfair. So the farmers work their whole lives on the farm just to give it up in a second. Our government must start using logic. Well as long as we have this government South Africa will just go down hill
Bianca Els said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 09:11 AM
This must be one of the stupidest proposals heard in a long time. No one who paid all their lives for their ground will just give it away. Another brain dead proposal by the incompetent, corrupt government.
Jessica said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 09:02 AM
I so agree with you, why not give the people the state land, why not also tell all companies, listen you got to share your company with your employee's that have contributed to it, even though you put the time, money and effort into building it to make it work, been kind enough to give the person the job and then have to share it because the government says so. Pathetic really. Here comes another Zimbabwe.
Lucretia said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 08:53 AM
Why is South Africa to stupid to learn from mistakes committed by the rest of Africa. Zimbabwe did the same thing and are now begging their farmers to come back and work their lands again. Running a farm is hard work, something a lot of South Africans don't seem to like to do. Just look at the incident with Thandi Modise and her excuse is, "I did not know my farm manager went on leave and that the workers went AWOL". Hello future problems.
Juliet said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 08:44 AM
And to think I always dreamed of owning a wine farm in Cape Town. What a mess those farms will be now. No one can pretend they will ever be manages the same with half the workers owning them. HUGE joke. Ha ha well done government you know exactly how to disgrace our country and ruin the few little jewels that we have left.
Brumilde said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 08:39 AM
Working on a farm and owning it is two different matters altogether. I can only see bad things ahead...
Alexis said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 08:20 AM
I do not think that this will solve the problem at all - this is going to cause a major problem with food production etc. The Government is taking the easy way out as I see it and not doing what they should be doing! Changing names of places etc - that money could be spent on more important things. They are going to scare any investors away and we will never grow as a country, never get this country to a standard that actually helps a person,
Bianca R said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 08:10 AM
This is not going to solve the problem, it is only going to create a bigger problem. These farmers have worked extremely hard on their land to get it to what it is today and they must simply hand over half for nothing. How is this fair and even constitutional? Sometimes I wonder about the logic in our land and whether logic even exists?
Melissa said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 08:01 AM
Wonder when our government will see that they are in fact disrupting our economic growth with all of their land reform programs as they have not had much success as yet. Giving away some of the top farms is not going to solve their problems. The government should instead help disadvantage people to build a farm form scratch, as when you receive something for free no own really looks after it...
Lourien said:
on Thursday 10-Jul-14 07:43 AM
Clearly giving the whole farm to one person that is not seen as "disadvantage" but in fact are wealthy has not been working out properly as almost all the animals has died or starved to mention one of all the farms that has been given away, now they are trying to give away 50 % of the farm in hoping that the owner would still take care of the whole farm...
The Government should stop taking away what everyone is working for and start being creative and getting their own ideas of making money and not just taking from already established farms...
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
