[ad_1]
Minister of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza. (Photo: Flickr / GovernmentZA)
Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza provided an update Tuesday on the government’s latest stab at land reform, promising that it would be done in a transparent manner that would leave no doubt about the process.
In early October, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development announced that it would make nearly 900 farms available for rental by emerging farmers on underutilized or unoccupied state lands. Minister of Agriculture Thoko Didiza said on Tuesday that 5,838 online applications had been received from cooperatives, companies and individuals. Several physical applications were also made, which have yet to be accounted for.
“We … urge all South Africans to take advantage of this opportunity and submit their applications online or at our provincial and district offices in the seven provinces before the closing date of November 15, 2020,” Didiza said.
When the initiative was announced, rigid deadlines were set, so the process should be completed about eight weeks after the deadline for applications.
One of the many challenges plaguing South Africa’s failed land reform attempts has been the lack of capacity in the department to properly screen and complete applications from aspiring farmers.
When asked if the department now had the capacity to achieve this in a timely and transparent manner, Didiza responded: “Yes, we do and we have also mobilized other stakeholders to ensure that the process is not questioned and is truly transparent.” These other stakeholders include farmers’ organizations, religious groups, NGOs, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
“We need this ability from the people who work with us to ensure that the process is credible, transparent, and that everyone can feel the matter was addressed. We have also established independent panels that will not involve our government officials, who would actually deal with issues of objections and disputes. So there is a quality assurance in the processes we carry out ”, he said.
The minister also provided some more context on the land in question, saying that it had been allocated by the apartheid state for the use of the homeland and was in the hands of the South African Development Trust. Part of it was used by the communities for communal cattle grazing, but not in a formal way.
“After 1994 an attempt was made to transfer some of these agricultural lands to farmers; unfortunately, this process was not completed. To address the land rights of these diverse communities, research on land rights is essential, ”he said. That process is ongoing.
As historian John Laband recently noted in his book The land warsSouth Africa’s “bitter legacy of dispossession urgently demands reparation.” Unfortunately, land reform efforts to date have not had a sense of urgency.
The goal of transferring 30% of white-owned land to blacks by 2014 has been missed by a margin the size of the cornfields of the Free State. Meanwhile, the issue of expropriation without compensation has vexed investors, and the legacy of dispossession can still inflame social and political tensions in a context of glaring inequality.
The latest initiative will be welcome, but questions remain about it. 30-year leases are offered with the option to purchase, but that raises the old red flag on how emerging farmers without title can access financing. Agriculture is becoming increasingly capital intensive and high-tech.
Still, at least the minister is providing updates on the process with a commitment to transparency and competent administration. That marks a nice departure from the past. BM / DM
