ANC treasurer general Matthews Phosa told delegates at a Freedom Front Plus conference on Afrikaner poverty that market forces were the best way for government to obtain land in SA. He said this was why the Expropriation Bill had been shelved, because government had realised it was not the best way to speed up land reform. Phosa confirmed that many land redistribution projects had failed and cited the 70% of land transferred in Limpopo that had ended up in a dismal state. “We must not f**k up the whole thing,” he told delegates.
“It will lead to more job failures and threaten food security.” He said the challenge was to get the formula right. “If we could get the balance right of availability of land and of resources from the state, expertise, training and partnerships between white farmers and black farmers, we could, in my opinion succeed.” W hile organised agriculture has welcomed Phosa’s comments, this new attitude, also from other ANC leaders, has sparked fresh rumours of a widening rift between government and the ANC. While the chairperson of the Public Works parliamentary committee Thandi Tobias-Poloko had announced that the Expropriation Bill was shelved because of a lack of proper consultation, the Public minister, Thoko Didiza, last week fumed at this remark, saying she wasn’t even informed of the decision.
It appears the national land claims commissioner, Blessing Mphela, was also not informed of the ANC’s realisation that the market forces should govern land prices. Last week he issued another group of Limpopo and Mpumalanga farmers with letters stating they should accept offers of 40% less than the offers they accepted some two years ago or face expropriation. Agri SA land committee chairperson Theo de Jager commented, “In many cases, these people who were willing sellers right from the beginning are now selling to their neighbours, who were not willing to sell in the first place.
These transactions are at market-related prices, transfers go through within six weeks and farmers can appoint their own transfer attorneys. In light of this, we, as an organisation can no longer advise our members to sell land to government for restitution.” – Jasper Raats
