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National African Farmers Union of South Africa
Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill
Presented by
Motsepe Matlala: Deputy President NAFU
Presentation Agenda
Introduction
Why Expropriation
Abilities of Black Farmers
Powers of the Minister
Willingness of White Farmer Unions to Participate
Conclusion
Introduction
In South Africa we are indeed in a critical phase in the process of
creating a new future for all our people. We are faced with resolving
issues that are fundamental prerequisites for achieving a sustainable
and equitable socio economic solution for this country.
At the forefront of this process is the agricultural sector with the many
dynamics that make ultimate achievement of stability in this sector
more complex than has been the case with other sectors of the
economy. We must learn from the many examples that come to us
from the rest of Africa where it is plainly evident that until agricultural
stability is achieved in a country that no last social stability is possible.
We have already learnt two very important lessons. The first is that
land reform will not be painless and the second is that if land reform is
not implemented robustly that the frustrations experienced by those
who legitimately expect to benefit from land reform will become
unmanageable. Why do organisations like the TAU seem hell-bent on
creating a situation where we will inevitably repeat the mistakes of our
neighbours.
Accelerated land restitution must be promoted if we are to extricate
this country from the very same problems of poverty and hunger that
continues to plague the rest of the continent
Why is Expropriation Required
It is only the most naïve of those amongst us who can truly believe
that land restitution can happen totally on a basis of agreement. No
society in the world is made up only of reasonable people. It is the
mandate of all governments to ensure through transparent and
equitable processes that reasonableness prevails in matters of national
importance.
When the land of Black people was appropriated without fair
compensation to allow previous governments to develop a strong
agricultural sector, a warped perception of public interest was held
forth as motivation for the expropriations despite the creation of far
reaching social dissatisfaction
When the previous government later sought to strengthen their
agricultural sector even further by consolidating the borders of the
‘Homelands’ and the farms of white farmers were appropriated (with
fair compensation), ‘public interest’ once again triumphed as the
motivation despite the fact that many White farmers were deeply
dissatisfied with the process
Why is Expropriation Required
Today we are faced with a weakening agricultural sector as a result of
the disproportionate ownership of agricultural land and clearly
intervention from the government in the form of agricultural and land
reform must continue and indeed be accelerated. The only difference
that exists in the current land reform programme from past
programmes, is that the definition of public interest has been
corrected to include the interests of all the people of the country.
It is of critical interest to the citizens of this country that land
restitution, as the building block for a stable agricultural sector be
taken to it full conclusion in the most effective way available. NAFU
believes that expropriation is required for those land restitution cases
where continued lack of agreement develops into a situation where
the ultimate achievement of the fundamental objectives of land reform
is jeopardized
Clearly expropriation can not be used as a tool for circumventing the
laws of this country, or indeed attempt to give the Minister the powers
to ride roughshod over the opponents of the government. It is in fact
the implementation of a mechanism that will ensure that the process
of land restitution is optimised
Abilities of Black Farmers
A popular refrain of the opponents of the land restitution programme
is that land given to Black farmers go to waste and that Black farmers
can not farm this land effectively. Apart from real examples where
Black farmers have achieved noteworthy succeses it is also true that
thousands of White farmers who went bankrupt will attest that an
ability to farm is only one of many factors that contribute to
agricultural succes.
Evidence abounds that it is extremely difficult for for any farmer, Black
or White to achieve commercial viability if the attitude of other
farmers, suppliers or market mechanisms are hostile. If the attitude of
White farmer organisations who exert massive influence within
commodity groupings, supply chains and markets remain negative and
unsupportive of Black land owner farmers, then agricultural stability in
this country is doomed to accelerated decline
Black farmers do have the ability to contribute significantly to
agricultural growth and food security in South Africa if the right
environment is created. The Restitution of Land Rights Bill aims to
make a very specific contribution to creating this required
environment by optimising the process of making land available to
emerging Black farmers.
Powers of the Minister
NAFU continues to search for any substance in the arguments raised
by the opponents of the proposed amendment. There certainly is no
credible legal argument in favour of preventing the amendment. It
seems that the only consistent narrative emanating from organisations
such as Agri-SA and the TAU is that the Minister will have too many
powers. These are not prepared to publically state that they are
completely in favour of land restitution and their negative attitude is
aptly demonstrated by their acceptance that the Minister will misuse
the powers conferred by the proposed amendment.
It is also significant that those who contend that the Minister’s powers
will be too far reaching, only bring lists of what they regard as
possible problems to the debate. They do not offer what they regard
as alternative solutions to expediting the land reform process. This
lack of contributory participation reinforces the perception that they
are primarily engaged in various forms of obstructing the process.
Without measures that make expropriation possible, the strategies
designed to make the government fail with land restitution can not be
effectively combated
Willingness of White Farmers to Participate
It is very evident from the dialogue that has been initiated during the
past six months by not only individual White farmers, but indeed more
than one commodity association with NAFU, that there is a growing
sentiment amongst White farmers that they are not convinced of the
intentions of the traditional White farmers organisations
A central theme to the dialogue has been that within these
organisations political posturing is detracting from their ability to fully
comprehend the critical importance for collaborative participation in
the programmes which have been initiated by the government. We do
not want to intimate that all the White farmers who are currently in
dialogue with NAFU fully support all the actions of government, but
certainly that all of them are concerned with making a positive
contribution to finding sustainable solutions. They do believe that their
representative organisations are involved in various forms of
obstructive behaviour
NAFU believes that expropriation powers vested in the Minister is
the only effective way to counter destructive practices by the
opponents of land reform who have openly admitted their intention
to use lengthy and protracted court actions to minimise
governments chances of successfully concluding land restitution
Conclusion
NAFU would like in conclusion to urge those who continue to oppose
government’s efforts to transform, stabilize and grow the South
African agricultural sector, with shallow political posturing to come to
their senses and contribute to finding sustainable solutions that will
unite farmers, regardless of their political affiliations, into a sector of
the South African economy that will be characterized by a pride that
binds working farmers throughout the world
We are witnessing on our very doorstep the results of unsuccessful
land reform. The impact of not getting it right because we are hesitant
to take decisive action and be influenced by those that make much
noise but no positive contribution will be devastating not only on the
agricultural sector but on the broader economy of this country. In this
regard NAFU reiterates its support for implementation of the
Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill as an effective means to
ensure that the land reform process so critical to the future of this
country does not get bogged down in a political tennis match
Thank You