No ‘vengeful’ plan to force white farmers off the land: Mcebisi Skwatsha

There are no plans to forcibly remove any white farmers‚ deputy minister of rural development and land reform Mcebisi Skwatsha said.

“But nor can we sit on our hands and wait for the desperation of our people to mount to the point that drove farm invasions to the north of us‚" he said.

Skwatsha was speaking on Friday at the handing over of financial compensation to 52 households and 217 beneficiaries of the Verulam Mission land claim in KwaZulu-Natal. They will receive about R5‚7-million for the land they lost under apartheid‚ because their land is now a residential and industrial area.

He said that more than 15,219 of the about 17,200 land claims received in KwaZulu-Natal Province before the 1998 cut-off date had been settled. “That’s more than 88%. It would be 100% were the claims slightly less complex to verify‚ were all claimants traceable and speaking with one voice‚” he added.

Land reform‚ he said‚ “is not a nice-to-have; it is a national imperative”.

New approaches were being adopted to implement the policy. Instead of the buyer determining the price alone‚ the price is now determined by the market.

Another new instrument is the 50/50 policy‚ was being tested on five farms in the Eastern Cape‚ Mpumalanga and Free State.

“More than 50 commercial farmers have expressed interest in becoming part of this programme‚” said Skwatsha.

The policy framework seeks direct redress for farmworkers “whose sweat and toil built a powerful agricultural sector in our country”.

Six foundation stones to underpin the policy framework:

* Co-management of the farm enterprise on a 50/50 basis between farm owners and farm dwellers;

* Co-ownership of the land on a 50/50 basis between farm owners and farm dwellers;

* Co-ownership of the off-farm value chain enterprises on a 50/50 basis between farm owners and farm dwellers;

* Establishing an investment and financing facility to incentivise the voluntary participation of farm owners‚ farm dwellers and investors in the initiative; *Ensuring that commercial farmland is used optimally and sustainably; and

* Attracting investment in the sector‚ improving production and productivity‚ raising competitiveness‚ enhancing food security‚ increasing employment and incomes‚ and facilitating inclusivity of all stakeholders in the transformation and development of the sector.

Skwatsha said: “These are not punitive processes. Nor are they vengeful.

“The society we seek to create is one that creates space for all of its people‚ one that feeds all its people‚ one that acknowledges the equal worth of all its people.”