change course on land or face grave consequences
08 May 2008

Land reform in SA is in trouble. Be warned: this is not just another policy issue in which government capacity is unequal to a difficult task. For most South Africans, the history of land is one of pain and injustice. People must be fully compensated for land and assets that were stolen. At a time of rising food and commodity prices, the future of “the land issue” will affect the country’s ability to reach its economic growth targets, produce its own food, and compete in global markets.

Land redistribution is taking place far too slowly to meet the expectations raised by the government’s target that 30% of commercial agricultural land should be owned by blacks by 2014. In the three years from 2004 to last year, state redistribution of formerly white-owned land to black owners increased by less than half a percentage point, from 4,3% of commercial land to 4,7%.

The restitution process has successfully settled almost all urban claims but is now seriously bogged down. The last phase of restitution dealing with the biggest, most difficult rural claims involving many thousands of people has resulted in large swathes of productive commercial land being placed under claim and therefore effectively frozen for years to come.

For example, according to the South African Cane Growers’ Association, 50% of all cane land is under claim with only 4% settled; nearly half of the timber land owned by Mondi is under claim, as is at least 17,5% of Sappi’s land. This means that farmers cannot borrow against their land for the next harvest or any machinery or improvements; it means that aspirant new black farmers cannot get bank loans to purchase this land.

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