One in two youth under 25 is unemployed. Cousins says there is a need to use land but it cannot solve all problems. He said if land reform was not fast enough it “will not be enough to hold off destructive populism”. He also said destructive populism would succeed if unemployment remained so high.
But farmer Colin Forbes said even small holders still needed tractors and support and smallholding would be difficult without implements and financial support. He said people needed land to farm – and farm workers should be considered as recipients of land as they had the skill to farm.
What analysts agreed upon was that there were many obstacles to land reform.
Cousins said many of the problems faced were caused by dysfunctional government departments involved in land.
They also included lack of financing for new farmers‚ he said.
They also included lack of water and irrigation for crops as much of South Africa faced water shortages.