Land counter-claims from farmers?

If farmers aren’t properly compensated for farms given up to land reform, they could put in claims of their own based on the same principles as the current land restitution process.

- Advertisement -

If farmers aren’t properly compensated for farms given up to land reform, they could put in claims of their own based on the same principles as the current land restitution process. So said Dr Theo de Jager, deputy president of Agri SA, at Agri SA’s annual congress in Muldersdrift, Johannesburg.

“One of the reasons why there are so many land claims is because land was taken away from people without giving them proper compensation,” he explained. “But the government’s current way of dealing with land reform means that farmers are not being compensated fairly for their land. This then means that these farmers can claim their land back because they were not properly compensated. This will lead to secondary land restitution.”

De Jager said that government doesn’t want to pay market value for farms. “They proved this when they tried to change the Land Expropriation Act. It isn’t just the ANC Youth League that does not want to pay for farms; it is the ANC as well.

- Advertisement -

“Government is hell-bent on scrapping the willing buyer, willing seller principle. They only pay 60% of the market value for a farm under land restitution. If you don’t want to take this deal then you are bullied into it.” However, law expert Prof Pierre de Vos told Farmer’s Weekly that secondary restitution would not be possible. “The cut-off date for land claims has already passed. There are talks of reopening the process, but there are no legal papers to support this.”

De Vos said that farmers who felt that they weren’t adequately compensated would have to act quickly to dispute the matter in court. “Farmers can’t stop the land restitution process but they can challenge the compensation they received in court, where it can be increased. But this is a very high risk strategy because the farmer won’t win if it is not absolutely clear that a fair price, and not necessarily market value, has not been paid for the farm.”

Dr De Jager added that fighting land claims in court is a lengthy, unaffordable and tortuous process. “What makes it worse is that you’re going up against a government that has unending funds in the form of your taxes. So they are using your money to fight you.” – Lindi van Rooyen