GREEN PAPER: LAND AFFAIRS

The commercial producer of today finds himself in a very uncomfortable position as far as our country’s history regarding land affairs are concerned. The producer on the one hand is the problem for the government, but at the same time also the solution.

About the “what” needs to be done, there is consensus: For a certain length of time (there must be a beginning and an end), adjustments are required to more fairly distribute land, while we must maintain food production. These affirmative actions must also be of such a nature that the sector continues to grow and create jobs. It is therefore about the “how” that there are large differences.

The “how” part has to do with the price of land, the periods wherein it must happen as well as the selection of producers who will benefit from this. All, including the government, are only too aware of the reasons for the failures. Some of the most important factors that have contributed to the failure of the current policy are corruption, a shortage of funds and skills, no support, unused state lands and administrative clumsiness, for example a land ownership audit. One would suspect that the most elementary aspect of land reform would be a data bank indicating who owns the land in the country.

I take my hat off to the JSE who with great effort (and most likely high costs) completed the exercise to determine what volume of the shares is in the hands of black people. They have not yet been able to work through everything, but the figure is already at least 30%.

How long do we as producers still have to hear that we are not making progress with transformation? Unlike the JSE, we do not have access to the state’s title deeds to carry out a similar exercise. Many efforts by organised agriculture to reach out to help with the process have just been ignored. Possibly the government does not want to know, because as long as the uncertainty persists, it is used as a whip to drive us.

The other day it was quite refreshing to be able to announce that Grain SA already has more black developing producers enrolled in our study groups than paid up commercial producers (black and white). This is the result of many years of sustained efforts by an industry and organisation that want to make a difference. We see it on the ground, but unfortunately the people in the board rooms do not want to hear it. It does not suit them. The type of support that Grain SA is offering these producers are precisely the solutions the Minister of Land Affairs is currently looking for. It is not a case of being absent; it has plainly been ignored until now!

Both parties in this matter must now put their pride in their pockets and reach out to one another. Grain SA must offer its support system to the state as an indispensable building block for successful land reform and the government will have to put its hand in its pocket to fund this service to ensure food security in a sustainable manner.

The solution does not lie in more whipping, but in partnerships so that the belief in our Constitution with regard to property rights and fair and just compensation can remain properly in place.

The other plea I have is to begin to dream together about the “new normal”. What does South African agriculture look like after the affirmative period is over? When is it over so that the market can develop towards the new normal? A period where only the constitution of the country dictates and the unpredictability of political interference is down to a minimum.

In agriculture there are so many unpredictable challenges, such as prices, the weather and the exchange rate, that we will never lie awake as a result of boredom. Sometimes I wonder if farming in the European Union is not one of the most boring careers? Almost everything there is predictable, except where on the stoep the chicken will mess tomorrow.

Jannie de Villiers, CEO