14 Jun 2011Whereas there were 100 000 white commercial farmers in 1994, there are now 42 000, and this figure is dropping at 5% per annum, Agri Eastern Cape representative Mike Mangold told black farmers at the Eastern Cape Provincial Land Reform Workshop in East London on 21 May.
“You must accept the responsibility to feed this nation,” he said. “It’s your problem now, no longer the white commercial farmer’s problem. You must develop to the point where you’re no longer subsistence farmers feeding yourselves – you must feed the cities that are growing around you,” said Mangold. “One of the main reasons for the decrease in white commercial farmers is that many farmers’ sons are looking for a future elsewhere,” he said. “The ‘Jannie, jy gaan die plaas oorvat’ system is gone. Jannie is gone, he’s a doctor, a dentist or he’s gone overseas.”
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