In his opening of parliament address, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the government “will increase funding to land reform, prioritise the transfer of state land and improve post-settlement support by strengthening the institutional capacity of responsible structures”.
This profound statement is at the heart of South Africa’s agricultural inclusive growth agenda. Over time, the South African government has amassed more than 2 million hectares of land that have never been released to beneficiaries with title deeds or long-term tradable leases. These now mostly underutilised government-owned farms were acquired through the proactive land acquisition strategy and sat in the government landholding account.
Many black farmers we interact with tell stories of frustration and inability to expand and commercialise farming operations because of a lack of secure access to land. In instances where they have access to the land, the short-term leases the government provides them with hinder access to capital and expanding their farming operations into commercial and viable businesses that could create sustainable jobs for communities.
To verify all these claims and stories, I went undercover to the Karoo to visit some of these government farms. I opened a gate at one of the farms in the photo accompanying this letter. The farmer is successful and has proven himself worthy of farming in the harsh environment of the Karoo. The farmer receives good support from organised agriculture and the provincial government. He runs a sustainable commercial farming unit. Thus, a case arose that the farmer is an ideal candidate to receive title deeds that would enable him to raise more funds and expand the farming operation.
There are many more such cases across South Africa. These farmers have proven themselves to be ideal candidates for land beneficiaries. Transferring the land to them would precisely mimic the scheme the Nationalist Party government did in the 1940s. Back then, farmers were put on state land and given a 5-year lease arrangement to prove themselves, with the first two years rent-free. In year five, if they were farming successfully, they could buy the land at a discounted price and were provided affordable finance through the Land Bank, which was capitalised by the state.
In the present day, we see a different approach to farmer development. In some cases where farmers have succeeded despite insecure lease arrangements, they are unceremoniously and illegally removed from the farms by corrupt officials in the Department of Land Reform & Rural Development. This lack of secure tenure to land is one factor contributing to SA’s long-standing challenge of duality, a topic discussed in greater detail in my recent book A Country of Two Agricultures.
Many black farmers we interact with tell stories of frustration and inability to expand and commercialise farming operations because of a lack of secure access to land. In instances where they have access to the land, the short-term leases the government provides them with hinder access to capital and expanding their farming operations into commercial and viable businesses that could create sustainable jobs for communities.
In some cases where farmers have succeeded despite insecure lease arrangements they are unceremoniously and illegally removed from the farms by corrupt officials in the Department of land reform & rural development. This lack of secure tenure to land is one of the factors that contributes to SA’s long-standing challenge of duality, a topic discussed in greater detail in my recent book A Country of Two Agricultures.
Follow me on X (@WandileSihlobo).
