He called on government to finalise the document without delay, as the postponements created uncertainties among farmers over the land reform process. He said Nerpo hoped that the thorny issue of limited access to production land for black farmers would be addressed in the Green Paper.
Inaddition, government should reconsider the willing-buyer/willing-seller principle as it was causing further delays of the land reform process, he said.Prof Mohammed Karaan, dean of the AgriScience faculty at Stellenbosch University, agreed. As long as the government adheres to the principle, it’ll have no control over the exorbitant price of agricultural land, which is slowing down the pace of redistribution, he said. He also said government must set up a criterion of beneficiaries to ensure that agricultural land is distributed to willing and able black farmers.
