SA’s land reformers walk an uneasy path

As Mahile Mokomo decides which white farmers must sell their land to black claimants in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province, he is keenly aware of events just to the north in Zimbabwe.

If he takes too long, black land claimants say they may take matters into their own hands and seize farms. White farmers say if the process is not handled correctly, farms will fall into disrepair and food supplies could be threatened.The process takes place in the shadow of a draconian land reform programme just across the Zimbabwean border, where President Robert Mugabe has forcibly — and sometimes violently — seized white owned farms to give to blacks.The farm seizures there have been blamed for creating food shortages in the country, once the region’s breadbasket.South Africa’s land reform programme aims to help blacks recover land they have lost under colonial or apartheid-era laws by purchasing it from mostly white landowners at market prices.”It has to happen,” Mokomo, a former lawyer who now serves as Limpopo’s land claims commissioner, told Reuters in the regional capital Polokwane, approximately 200 kilometres south of the Zimbabwe border.”You can’t have a situation where 80 per cent of the land is held by a group who make up less than 12 per cent of the country.”South Africa aims to put 30 per cent of agricultural land in black hands by 2014, two decades after the end of white apartheid rule, mainly through government-funded transactions on a willing buyer-willing seller basis.This process has been criticised as too slow.The South African Communist Party says less than three per cent of the land earmarked for black ownership has been handed over.But land claims, in which blacks lodge formal requests for specific tracts of land they say they were stolen from them in the past, have proven to be even more controversial.”It’s Zimbabwe in a velvet glove,” says white farmer and Limpopo mango grower Tony Long, who grew up in Zimbabwe, told Reuters on the veranda of his farmhouse in Tzaneen, 100 kilometres west of Polokwane.”But there’s a realisation that we need land reform.The main problem is the uncertainty.”All land claims had to be submitted by the end of 1998, but thousands — some covering dozens of farms — remain unresolved.Most of them are in Limpopo, where the main staples are cattle and tropical fruit.South Africa’s main grain producing areas, further south, have been much less affected.IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE President Thabo Mbeki says the land issue must be resolved by the end of 2005.Mokomo says that target is an impossible challenge with some claims opposed by white farmers and others stalled by competing demands of different groups or by divisions among claimants.”But we are confident by then we will have made considerable progress,” he says.”Three years ago, we had a staff of less than 20 and now it is 102.”In some cases, particularly where the disputed land is part of an urban area or used for mining or industry, the claimants may receive financial compensation rather than land.Many white farmers in Limpopo say the commission takes too long to decide claims, leaving farmers unable to refurbish their property, invest in farms or plan for the future.Despite repeated official assurances no further land claims will be lodged, many white farmers fear more will follow in time — something Mokomo denies.NO SKILLS Some early land transfers were handled badly, leaving a number of farms in the hands of new black farmers who lacked the skills to run them profitably, officials say.Animal rights group the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says that in some cases cattle and pigs have had to be destroyed because new farmers have been unable to look after them.par “These people don’t have the skills, the training or the know-how of how to farm,” says Celeste Houseman, manager of the NSPCA’s farm animal unit.”Animals need basic requirements — food, water and veterinary attention — and without these the animals suffer.”Mokomo says new landowners in Limpopo will now need to find a strategic partner to facilitate funding, training and an organised handover.Firms like South African Farm Management, a private company, say they are ready to step into the breach, providing essential help in return for a stake of between 40 and 49 per cent of the farm business for a 10 to 20 year period.Some white farmers have also agreed to come on board as managers and advisors, project director and Pentecostal preacher Reverend David Gondwe says.”We need all these skills,” he said.”But sometimes the new owners don’t want the previous owner to stay on because the communities don’t trust them.”- Nampa-ReutersWhite farmers say if the process is not handled correctly, farms will fall into disrepair and food supplies could be threatened.The process takes place in the shadow of a draconian land reform programme just across the Zimbabwean border, where President Robert Mugabe has forcibly — and sometimes violently — seized white owned farms to give to blacks.The farm seizures there have been blamed for creating food shortages in the country, once the region’s breadbasket.South Africa’s land reform programme aims to help blacks recover land they have lost under colonial or apartheid-era laws by purchasing it from mostly white landowners at market prices.”It has to happen,” Mokomo, a former lawyer who now serves as Limpopo’s land claims commissioner, told Reuters in the regional capital Polokwane, approximately 200 kilometres south of the Zimbabwe border.”You can’t have a situation where 80 per cent of the land is held by a group who make up less than 12 per cent of the country.”South Africa aims to put 30 per cent of agricultural land in black hands by 2014, two decades after the end of white apartheid rule, mainly through government-funded transactions on a willing buyer-willing seller basis.This process has been criticised as too slow.The South African Communist Party says less than three per cent of the land earmarked for black ownership has been handed over.But land claims, in which blacks lodge formal requests for specific tracts of land they say they were stolen from them in the past, have proven to be even more controversial.”It’s Zimbabwe in a velvet glove,” says white farmer and Limpopo mango grower Tony Long, who grew up in Zimbabwe, told Reuters on the veranda of his farmhouse in Tzaneen, 100 kilometres west of Polokwane.”But there’s a realisation that we need land reform.The main problem is the uncertainty.”All land claims had to be submitted by the end of 1998, but thousands — some covering dozens of farms — remain unresolved.Most of them are in Limpopo, where the main staples are cattle and tropical fruit.South Africa’s main grain producing areas, further south, have been much less affected.IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE President Thabo Mbeki says the land issue must be resolved by the end of 2005.Mokomo says that target is an impossible challenge with some claims opposed by white farmers and others stalled by competing demands of different groups or by divisions among claimants.”But we are confident by then we will have made considerable progress,” he says.”Three years ago, we had a staff of less than 20 and now it is 102.”In some cases, particularly where the disputed land is part of an urban area or used for mining or industry, the claimants may receive financial compensation rather than land.Many white farmers in Limpopo say the commission takes too long to decide claims, leaving farmers unable to refurbish their property, invest in farms or plan for the future.Despite repeated official assurances no further land claims will be lodged, many white farmers fear more will follow in time — something Mokomo denies.NO SKILLS Some early land transfers were handled badly, leaving a number of farms in the hands of new black farmers who lacked the skills to run them profitably, officials say.Animal rights group the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says that in some cases cattle and pigs have had to be destroyed because new farmers have been unable to look after them.par “These people don’t have the skills, the training or the know-how of how to farm,” says Celeste Houseman, manager of the NSPCA’s farm animal unit.”Animals need basic requirements — food, water and veterinary attention — and without these the animals suffer.”Mokomo says new landowners in Limpopo will now need to find a strategic partner to facilitate funding, training and an organised handover.Firms like South African Farm Management, a private company, say they are ready to step into the breach, providing essential help in return for a stake of between 40 and 49 per cent of the farm business for a 10 to 20 year period.Some white farmers have also agreed to come on board as managers and advisors, project director and Pentecostal preacher Reverend David Gondwe says.”We need all these skills,” he said.”But sometimes the new owners don’t want the previous owner to stay on because the communities don’t trust them.”- Nampa-Reuters