Govt eyes game farms
2010-03-18 09:49

Pieter du Toit, Beeld

Cape Town - Game farms in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape are being eyed by government for nationalisation as such agricultural concerns do not contribute to food security.

But farmers using all of the land available to them have nothing to fear from the state as it would be "stupid" to interfere.

These opinions were expressed by Dr Joe Phaahla, deputy minister of rural development and land reform and Thozi Gwanya, the department's director general, as tensions rose in the agricultural community about government's controversial land nationalisation plans.

They spoke after a meeting with Parliament's Standing Committee On Public Accounts (Scopa) - where the department received a dressing down for poor financial management - claiming that it was morally unjustifiable that many people were without land while some owned many thousands of hectares.

New thinking about land reform

Although the department's much discussed strategic plan only contained suggestions, Phaahla and Gwanya said new thinking was required about land reform.

Phaahla explained that government had to balance the right to land with property rights.

He indicated that the thinking behind adjusting Article 25 came from too much emphasis perhaps being put on property rights at the cost of everyone's right to land.

He also explained how a precedent about the guardianship of natural resources had been created with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

"According to this, the state retains its right to resources; that didn't scare mining houses.

"There are land-hungry people and there are people with huge pieces of land on which nothing is happening. Is this morally just? We have to develop formulas to determine whether land is being used optimally."

Gwenya couldn't explain how it would be determined what the optimum use of land would entail or how much cultivatable land was currently lying fallow.

"It is a problem and worrying that grain farmers turn their farms into game farms or sell to developers. It leads to a decrease in production."

Crisis meetings

These comments followed a series of crisis meetings with the agricultural community over the last few days in which farmers vented their anger about the government's plans.

Vice-president of AgriSA, Dr Theo de Jager, said he knew of emergency meetings in all nine provinces. "It is difficult to keep farmers positive with this insecurity all around."

Deputy minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Dr Pieter Mulder, tried to pour oil on troubled waters at agricultural association meetings at Malmesbury.

"Farmers are fearing the Zimbabwe route. We are receiving concerned enquiries from all over."

Advocate Nikki de Havilland, director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, said references to Article 25 made it clear government's plan was not aimed at food security but property rights.

"If they had been worried about food security, it would not have been necessary to refer to 'productive agricultural concerns' and it could be aimed purely at the failed land reform process."

What did government say?

Joe Phaahla, deputy minister of rural development and land reform:

"I don't know what farmers are concerned about. No-one is threatening to take away their farms, no-one.

"No law has changed, the Constitution hasn't changed, no policy has changed. All we are saying is this: Let's talk about the challenges of the land-hungry and access to food production.

"Why would anyone say: 'I can't farm anymore because a debate is being held?'

"There has been no policy change. The message is therefore: There is nothing to be afraid about; people should continue producing, the country and its people remain grateful towards the farmers who are feeding the nation.

Thozi Gwanya, the department's director general: "Should farmers for example stop farming because of climate change? Should they stop because of fears about drought amongst others, stop and say: Oh, we live in a terrible world?' No."

The strategic plan

All productive land would be declared national assets with leasehold systems and transferable or limited property rights. This could lead to an adjustment of Article 25 of the Constitution which guaranteed property rights or

The revision of the current residential security system with a view to keeping the current form of property rights within a framework, which categorised farmers.

These options would be explored in the department's green paper on government's new policy for land reform, which would be presented to Cabinet at the end of this month.


- Beeld

And so it begins...?

Just wait until after the World Cup. Mugabe is Zuma's hero. It ain't about food, it is about "payback" for Whitey and enrichment of ANC favored thugs.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
Just wait until after the World Cup. Mugabe is Zuma's hero. It ain't about food, it is about "payback" for Whitey and enrichment of ANC favored thugs.

What's the worst thing that ever happened to Africa??? Native Africans!!!

I hate to say it..welcome to our world
HUNGRY DOGS HUNT HARDEST

...someone once said: "The two worst things that happened to Africa...the white man came, and the white man left!"

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
Just wait until after the World Cup. Mugabe is Zuma's hero. It ain't about food, it is about "payback" for Whitey and enrichment of ANC favored thugs.

+2

The cancer continues to spread. . . . .

I don't believe for one minute any of us saw this coming !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

quote:

Just wait until after the World Cup. Mugabe is Zuma's hero. It ain't about food, it is about "payback" for Whitey and enrichment of ANC favored thugs.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Always, right on target Judge!

It is about that and securing power by appearing to do something when in fact stealing from everyone. The only people who will benefit are those in power who reap the rewards from stealing the land. No one can go back and change what happened 100 to 200 years ago. You can only move ahead. These people are just looking for excuses to justify their thefts.

IT is quite an interesting article ....

In the article vice-president of AgriSA, Dr Theo de Jager is mentioned as being concerned

I also see on other information on the net that Theo is (currently involved) in an AgriSA Congo deal to secure VAST tracts of farming land in the Congo for South African farmers, they will get the land FREE.

The guts of the deal is the Congo has vast underutilsed land and they need food badly, what better than SA farmers whom have great knowledge to take up the offer

At the end of the day FOOD will TRUMP OIL ...

Food is the next (worldwide crises) coming after the banking crises IMHO and it is more serious than the banking crises as money is only fiat currency BUT food is for real

Cheers, Peter

The native African government official seems to have an irresistible urge to turn everything they touch that functions properly into a shitehole that doesn't.
You would think corruption's first impulse would be to figure out what works and makes them bribe money and nurture it.
There is no cure for stupid...

Rich

If they cant screw it or steal it they break it.

the average poor black African, if left to his own ingenuity and industriousness will starve.sounds racist but is unfortunately true. Zim is a perfect example. went from being the breadbasket of southern Africa to a starving basket case.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
The native African government official seems to have an irresistible urge to turn everything they touch that functions properly into a shitehole that doesn't.
You would think corruption's first impulse would be to figure out what works and makes them bribe money and nurture it.
There is no cure for stupid...

Rich

Jeez, you could substitute "native African government official" with "US government official" or more accurately if a bit redundant "liberal government official" and come up with the same, equally accurate assesment. "Bribe money" would remain the same but also include the "pork for vote" vote buying we're seeing witht the current fiasco as well as campaign "donations" from out of the congressman's district or the senator's state.

JPK

Free land in Congo, Nigeria offers assistance to Zimbabwean Farmers, Uganda does likewise.

And the hidden agenda.......get the white farmer to invest his time, effort, expertise and even money, so after a few years we can STEAL it all away from him.

We ain't that stupid !!

Those who feel entitled world wide harbour the same desire, even belief.

"We are entitled to IT becuase of ...(fill in the blank)... and we don't want mere opportunity to work for IT, we want to be given or to take what you have produced, built, developed with your work, your money, your time and lives..."

It can be money, land, anything. The excuse for entitlement can likewise be anything. Whatever it is it is ussually associated with long past issues that those from whom they are looking to take or steal had noting to do with.

JPK

quote:

Originally posted by JPK:
Those who feel entitled world wide harbour the same desire, even belief.

"We are entitled to IT becuase of ...(fill in the blank)... and we don't want mere opportunity to work for IT, we want to be given or to take what you have produced, built, developed with your work, your money, your time and lives..."

It can be money, land, anything. The excuse for entitlement can likewise be anything. Whatever it is it is ussually associated with long past issues that those from whom they are looking to take or steal had noting to do with.

JPK

Sounds alot like what our country is coming to, under the current socialist/communist, anti-capitalist, terrorist, administration!