Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Roy Jankielsohn MPL
Despite government having acquired 432 038 hectares of land in the Free State under various land reform (redistribution) programmes since 1994, at a cost of R1,881 billion to the state, this land is not being used for commercial food production.
In addition, municipalities in the province own 203 plots of vacant land that amount to 245 379 hectares, which means a total of 677 417 hectares of potentially productive land is lying dormant.
The ANC-run government’s obsession with expropriation remains a smoke screen for their failure over 30 years to transform the commercial agricultural landscape.
The High Panel Report under the guidance of Kgalema Motlanthe identified corruption, the channelling of resources to elites and the lack of support to land reform beneficiaries as the main reasons for the failure of various land reform programmes. Land reform must be measured by the contribution of beneficiaries of land reform to food security in South Africa. The communist models of communal projects with large numbers of beneficiaries without title deeds has failed dismally. Provincial governments have spent large amounts of money to support projects that have no possibility of success. Only the DA-run Western Cape can claim progress in land reform with an 83% success rate in supporting land reform farmers, as opposed to a 90% failure rate in the rest of the country.
Besides share equity schemes, the DA has advocated for the allocation of title deeds to beneficiaries of land reform to create generational wealth and give beneficiaries access to surety for production loans through title deeds.
A DA-run government in the Free State will ensure that available state-owned land is utilised effectively to ensure real transformation by ensuring that beneficiaries of family-based farms receive title deeds, training and mentoring, and other support to become successful commercial farmers and contribute to food security.