New body aims to speed up land reform

The Western Cape provincial government has established a land reform advisory desk to help speed up transformation in the agricultural sector.

The tardiness around land reform has created uncertainty in the sector and has led to sporadic land occupations and tension on farms.

In 1994, the national government set a target of handing 30% of agricultural land to black recipients by 2014.

In 2013, it announced that only 8% of claimed land had been handed back, although settlements had been finalised for a far larger portion of farmland.

Western Cape Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said yesterday that speeding up land reform was one of the provincial government's foremost priorities.

"The land reform advisory desk will offer guidance to farmers, community organisations and residents. We are putting our full weight behind efforts to get viable projects going," Winde said.

The desk would be located at the Cape Agency for Sustainable Integrated Development in Rural Areas' head office in Paarl.

Winde also welcomed the establishment of the national Department of Rural Development and Land Reform's district land reform committees.

The committees, which are convened and chaired by the national department, have started meeting regularly.

There are six committees in total - one in each of the districts across the province. They consist of representatives from national and provincial government, organised agriculture and civil society.

Winde said the Western Cape department of agriculture was represented on all the committees.

"These committees will seek to identify land to meet the land reform goals set out in the National Development Plan. The NDP has set a target of 20% transfer of agricultural land to previously disadvantaged South Africans by 2030, a goal which we are determined to contribute towards.

"The Western Cape government will continue to strengthen the support roles we play.

"One of the tools we are using is [the] land reform advisory desk."