Skip to content
4 March 2010

Witness: Land claim delays ‘will create suffering’

AbM and the Gauteng LPM are both part of the Poor People’s Alliance but Mnikelo Ndabankulu is not an LPM spokesperson – he is an AbM spokesperson.

http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=36655

Land claim delays ‘will create suffering’
02 Mar 2010
Thami Magubane

DELAYS in settlements of land claims will destabilise societies and
cripple the agricultural sector, say local land rights organisations.

The organisations were speaking after the recent disclosure by the Rural
Development and Land Reforms Minister, Gugile Nkwithi, that the target
to redistribute 30% of commercial land to black farmers by 2014 will not
be met.

Nkwithi cited the large amounts of money needed to settle outstanding
claims as the main stumbling block. “We cannot raise R75?billion by 2014
to acquire the 82 million hectares of land that we have targeted … we
just don’t have the money,” he said.

The organisations said that already too many farms are caught up in the
process, causing frustration not only for those involved, but for the
economy too.

The Association for Rural Advancement (Afra) said that while it is clear
the deadline will not be met, the announcement has dealt a crippling
blow to agriculture.

“There are many commercial farms that are tied up in claims and hence
production and investment there have almost halted, because who will
invest in land whose ownership is being disputed?” asked John Aitchison,
director of Afra. He said such delays would destabilise societies and
threaten an already jittery agricultural sector.

“By the department’s own admission, some of the land that has been
redistributed is lying idle with the people unable to develop it, and
with the farmers reluctant to invest in land under claims that will
strain the agricultural sector.”

The Landless People’s Movement also condemned the delays, saying it
means more suffering for people who are without land. Spokesman Mnikelo
Ndaban­kulu said, “The majority of people who are without land are poor
people and this delay only means that they will continue to suffer.”

Sandy La Marque, CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, said that
despite the setback, they were pleased that the minister has committed
the government to ensuring food security and facilitating an environment
in which agriculture will take place freely.