South Africa's troubled land reform programme and the plight of black farmers are again headed for rough waters. A renewed confrontation between black farmers and the government threatens when the farmers meet with African National Congress general-secretary Gwede Mantashe on 19 November with a demand for a complete overall of the way their sector is funded. In the interim, small farmers could play an important role in securing South Africa's future food security in the face of climate change.

In another blow to developments on the land reform front, the North Gauteng High Court has declared key sections of an important land reform law, the Communal Land Rights Act, as being unconstitutional — thus making it unworkable.

The demands of the black farmers follow the announcement by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan that the first R1-billion of the Land Bank's R3.5-billion recapitalisation would be released in this financial year.

When the black farming groups meet Mantashe later this month they will make, among other things, recommendations on how to reduce high land prices which they say leave them over-indebted to the Land Bank.

High land prices asked by white farmers

Apart from high land prices in the general market which affect all farmers, high land prices asked by white farmers for their land in the restitution process have also long been held up as a major issue hobbling the land restitution process, leading to growing political discontent.

High costs and lack of sustained government support (in funding, provision of implements and training) has been cited widely as the greatest contributing factors to the high failure rate among new black farmers benefitting from the land restitution process.

In June, Gordhan approved the R3.5-billion recapitalisation after the Treasury approved the bank’s turnaround strategy. This included lifting the moratorium on foreclosing on defaulting black farmers, strengthening collections on non-performing loans, and freezing payouts from a R100-million AgriBEE fund that is currently under investigation by the police. The Departments of Land Reform and Agriculture also funded bailout packages for 283 defaulting black farmers who owed the Land Bank R232-million.

Of the recapitalisation funds, a total of R3.2-billion was earmarked for development loans in support of black farmers and agricultural enterprises that contribute to land reform targets, create jobs and support empowerment.

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Article courtesy of Leadership Magazine.

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