Big jump in black farmers

The number of previously disadvantaged people who own agricultural land has increased substantially since 1994.

Consultants Agri Development Solutions - with agriculture body Agri SA and the magazine Landbouweekblad - recently conducted a national audit of the transaction of agricultural land from 1994 to 2016. The audit processed the information from the deeds office for that period.

In 1994 previously disadvantaged farmers owned about 14.5 million hectares (14.9%), but it increased to 25 million (26.7%) in 2016.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, black land ownership has substantially improved since 1994 to 2016. In KwaZulu-Natal it increased from 45.4% to 73.5%, in the Eastern Cape from 28% to 48.3% and in Gauteng from 0% to 39.1%.

Agri SA said more research needed to be done on why these provinces had achieved such increases, but ADS economist Johann Bornman believes it is because of the history of these provinces.

"If you look at the Western Cape and the Northern Cape, you will never get to a point where you have 40% restitution, because the concentration of the people of colour is in the eastern side of the country."

South Africa is 122.5 million hectares in total. In 1994 the total agricultural land was 97 million hectares (79.2%), but has since shrunk to 93.5 million hectares (76.3%) in 2016 due to urban development, mining and the extension of municipal boundaries.

Agri SA president Dan Kriek said: "We are worried about it. South Africans should be worried about the mining versus agriculture debate.There will be more land lost."

Agri SA predicts commercial farmers will feed about 80 million South Africans by 2035.

Agriculture employs 670,000 semi-skilled and unskilled workers. Omri van Zyl, executive director of Agri SA, said there were about 34,000 full-time farmers, 40,000 tax-paying farmers and about 100,000 emerging farmers.

Van Zyl said if the government wanted the private sector to help with land reform farmers needed to own the land.

"If government on its own is going to try to do this, it will not succeed," Van Zyl said. "We believe this is not possible without property rights or security of tenure."

Agri SA agricultural economist Hamlet Hlomendlini said the government should speak to tribal authorities. "The difficulty is always that big elephant in the room which is the tribal chiefs who we always have to go through," Hlomendlini said. "It is my feeling that they prevent any sort of developments that take place in the traditional areas."