President Jacob Zuma proposed a new land reform plan in Pretoria on Monday evening.

"This is an innovative proposal that needs to be tested," he told the first annual general meeting of the African Farmers' Association of SA (Afasa).

The plan proposed a district-based approach to land reform and its financing.

"It proposes that each district should establish a district land reform committee where all stakeholders are involved. This committee will be responsible for identifying 20 percent of the commercial agricultural land in the district and giving commercial farmers the option of assisting its transfer to black farmers."

Implementation of this land reform proposal would include five steps.

Firstly, it would entail identifying land readily available from land already in the market; land where the farmer was under severe financial pressure; land held by an absentee landlord willing to exit; and land in a deceased estate.

"In this way, land can be found without distorting markets."

Secondly, the state would buy the land at 50 percent of its market value. This, Zuma said, would be closer to its fair productive value.

The current owner's shortfall would be made up by cash or in-kind contributions from the commercial farmers in the district who volunteered to participate.

Thirdly, in exchange, commercial farmers would be protected from losing their land and gain black economic empowerment status.

"This should remove the uncertainty and mistrust that surrounds land reform and the related loss of investor confidence."

Fourthly, a stepped-up programme of financing would be created, Zuma said. This would involve the Treasury, the Land Bank, and established white farmers.

"The model envisages that the cost of land reform be spread between all stakeholders. It also envisages new financial instruments being designed for the purpose of facilitating land reform."

These could include 40-year mortgages at preferential rates for new entrants into the markets, as well as land bonds that white farmers and others could invest in.

The fifth step was increasing investment in agricultural research and development.

Zuma said agriculture was crucial in the government's drive to promote food security and economic growth.

"It is important to make people go back to the land, and not to view social grants, wage employment, and non-agricultural informal activities as the only source of income for rural households than agricultural employment."

While looking at the need to increase food production, the government was also prioritising transformation in the agricultural sector.

"The current state of affairs within the agricultural sector in South Africa is one where commercial and smallholder agriculture co-exist, the one sector being predominantly white and the other sector being predominantly black."

Commercial agriculture is currently producing 90 percent of the agricultural output. It is estimated that it consists of about 37,000 members.

On the other hand 25 million people living in rural areas produce the remaining 10 percent through subsistence farming.

"More support for emerging farmers will enable us to improve the participation of black people, in particular Africans, in commercial agriculture."

In attendance at the event were Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tina Joemat-Pettersson, and pastor Ray McCauley.

Mokonyane called on farmers to work together to feed the country and the continent.

"Let us not only farm for us to go to bed with a meal."

McCauley congratulated Afasa on its successful conference.

"Let me just say this in case you did not know this. God loves the farmer," he said to the crowd's appreciation.

"Eve was the first farmer. She tended to the apples."

Joemat-Pettersson, who introduced Zuma, described him as a man of depth and the father of the nation.

"We support you and we will support you."

She said no weapon formed against him would succeed as he had looked after each and every farmer.

Comments

• Sign in or sign up to comment

Sun May 26 07:32:56 SAST 2013 ::

Oct 23, 2012

Tpaz!!

50% is too much, we should take it for free and only compensate for improvements, like farmhouse, equipments etc.
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

MommaC

What awful journalism. It brings up far more questions than answers. The only insight here is that Joemat-Pettersson has a very brown nose

Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

!#Sinudeity#!

Tpaz!! - This aint Zimbabwe dearie. Do you even understand the consequences of such actions? The country will be further downgraded, further downgrading will for one mean that our electricity supply will run out and we will sit with major blackouts.

50% is too little. Is jacob on crack?
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

MommaC

Tpaz!!

The banks would just take it right back. Most of those farms are so heavily financed that the commercial banks are the true owners.

Go for it, break the banks and lets see the petrol price hitting R200 a litre.
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

asaowe

Jst maybe Pres plan will wrk to avoid Zimbabwe land grab stlye.
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

oldlady12

Sin, Tpaz obviously missed the part about 90% commercial and 10% existence. Anyways, it is time for government to wake up and smell the coffe on this one. The people are hungry for land and we don't need a civil war.
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

!#Sinudeity#!

asaowe - Zimbabwean style landgrabs is merely a threat people use to try and scare landowners into selling. It aint gonna happen in South Africa.
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

!#Sinudeity#!

oldlady12 - Government owns 30% of the land in South Africa. Then we have the royals who also own a substantial portion of land. Instead of targetting private land, these are the targets it should be aiming for.
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

asaowe

SA cnt afford a war, we dnt need it plz ppl, let wrk as a nation.
Report Abuse

Oct 23, 2012

!#Sinudeity#!

The problem as it stands currently, is not land. Thousands of acres of commercial land have been distributed. But 90% of the time, the farms fail. The problem here is in training the farmers.

The kolobes of South Africa who threaten on these forums, stay in the suburbs, and wount see a hectre of the land. They wount profit from it either. And in these cases, the farms are merely leased to new owners, not distributed. The government still retains ownership.

Therefore the arguments people mostly use on the forums are moot.
Report Abuse

Read all 46 comments