Poor beneficiary selection hampers land reform – Agri SA

Wilma den Hartigh
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South Africa’s land reform process was in the spotlight at the recent Agri SA Congress in Gauteng.

Poor beneficiary selection hampers land reform – Agri SA
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Issues such as land ownership and beneficiary selection were highlighted as key issues preventing SA from achieving its land reform targets and creating a new generation of successful black farmers at the congress.

Grain SA vice-chairperson Preline Swart said land reform beneficiaries need the assurance that title deeds for the farms they receive are registered in their names.

“Without this farmers have to remain dependent on the government and we can’t develop farmers in this way,” he added.

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Ernest Pringle, chairperson of Agri SA’s Agriculture Development Policy Committee, said that poor beneficiary selection must also be addressed: “We must ensure that the right people are placed on land for the right reasons.”

The current land restitution process has led to many commercial farms becoming unproductive.

Masiphula Mbongwa, ministerial advisor at the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, said this was a major concern for government: “When the process of restitution takes place production should not be hampered and at the end of the settlement production should be the same or have increased.”

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