Smallholders at the Hereford Irrigation Scheme outside Groblersdal in Limpopo, who invaded vacant state farms over a decade ago, were dealt another blow last week in their efforts to become commercial farmers. O fficials informed them the much anticipated plan to build an overhead irrigation system would be curtailed because of budget cuts.
The provincial agriculture department initially promised the farmers new infrastructure worth R15 million to replace inefficient and labour intensive drag-line irrigation systems in April. But the department’s R141 million budget for reviving small-scale irrigation schemes has been slashed by half, putting the project in jeopardy. “We want to help them get started, but will have to do it piecemeal,” conceded a senior official who did not want to be named. He declined to provide reasons for the budget cuts. his is the latest hardship the smallholders from the Tafelkop Farmers’ Association (TFA) have endured in their 10-year battle to get started. In 1997 Farmer’s Weekly reported how 33 farmers from in the former homeland of Lebowa invaded four state farms that had been vacant since they were abandoned in the mid-1980s. A fter securing temporary permission to occupy the land from former agriculture minister Derek Hanekom, they were issued a one-year lease with an option to purchase. But their efforts to exercise that right have been bogged down in red tape ever since, making it impossible to secure planting contracts from food processors or agricultural cooperatives. “When everyone was toyi-toyiing, we had a purpose,” said TFA chairperson Jerry Sefoloshe. “Our aim was to farm and produce food for the local and international market. But without security of tenure it has become impossible to farm.” fficials say they are sympathetic to the farmer’s plight. “These farmers don’t want handouts – they want title to the land promised to them 10 years ago, so they can become part of the formal economy and provide food for the nation,” said a senior Limpopo agriculture department manager, Jethro Nowatha. Complicating matters is the fact that the original lease was issued by the Mpumalanga agriculture department, under power of attorney from the national public works department, which still owns the land. But last April the area was incorporated into Limpopo. Nowatha pledged to convene a meeting later this month, of all relevant government roleplayers, to thrash out the mess. “We want a solution by the end of March.” – Stephan Hofstätter
