Land Reform

Grain SA took notice of the latest developments and statements by politicians regarding land reform. “The frustration comes from both sides”, said Jaco Minnaar, Chairperson of Grain SA, “on the one hand, are those who want land and want to farm. On the other hand there is frustration from commercial farmers for being singled out, and whom have to farm and provide food to the nation with a never ending sword hanging over their futures.” Grain SA is in partnership with Government and various agricultural businesses establishing new commercial farmers as well as getting small 1 ha farmers to produce commercial yields. If we had mutual trust, the land reform process would have been much better. If all the beneficiaries were bona fide farmers, it would have been faster as well. Corruption and mistrust are the biggest stumbling blocks for faster and effective land reform. “How can we expect from a new farmer to be sustainable without a title deed of the land he or she is farming on? New farmers working Government owned land cannot access any finance without title deeds as security. This is why we are so slow in getting land reform to succeed”, said Minnaar. There are many farms in the market following the severe drought that we experienced last year, but very few of those are being bought by Government.

Constitution
Grain SA respects and honours the Constitution of South Africa: It clearly reads that land reform needs to take place, but it also reads that it should be done in a fair and equitable way, respecting human rights as was agreed to by all parties (including the governing party) before 1994. Grain SA took heart from Parliament’s decision against land reform without compensation. Such stance is an important building block of a nation with a food secure future! Uncontrolled land reform without compensation will end up in a food insecure nation characterized by uncontrolled emigration, higher levels of poverty, crises with exchange rates and permanent dependency on international food aid. This surely can’t be the goal we are aiming at? Populist’s statements to try and stay in power or to capture power will come at a huge cost to the poor – land reform is not about individuals, it is about a nation’s future – fair and equitable to all.

Ends

Issued by:
Grain SA Communications

Further enquiries:
Jannie de Villiers, CEO, Grain SA
086 004 7246 | pretoria@grainsa.co.za | www.grainsa.co.za