28 / 84
Addressing the
elephant
in the room
P
rof Mohammad Karaan was to ad-
dress Congress about ‘Policy en-
vironment for future sustainable
commercial and developing grain
production’ – but he said much, much more.
His quiet presence held his audience in the
palm of his hand as he started out, ‘
Maar ek
is ‘n bietjie omgekrap vandag
!’
He continued straight shooting: ‘If I were
a white farmer today,
dan het ek gevoel ek
wil my goed vat en loop…en ‘n ander toe-
koms vir my kinders gaan soek
. If I was a
black farmer I would feel that you still
don’t get it…that the new South Africa was
for all of us and yet we have not made our
emancipation, our liberation and our eco-
nomic advancement a true reality, despite
the fact that we have gained equality and
are a majority.’
Taking the bull by the horns he zoomed
in on the issue of land expropriation with-
out compensation saying it arouses many
emotions. The land issue is the biggest
challenge of our time and needs to be con-
fronted... ‘And this time for the sake of his-
tory and future generations…we have got
to get it right!’
He feels the Constitution is not sacrosanct;
it can be changed if it is not serving the
people and although he actually doesn’t
believe it’s necessary to change it, he rec-
ognises progress is necessary. He also
cautioned that this argument won’t be won
with logic as it’s too emotional.
Prof Karaan said if he had the chance to
talk with President Ramaphosa about land
reform in South Africa, he would have him
listen to a piece of music and consider the
implications of ‘not getting it right’ and what
could happen if the land issue is not settled.
He wanted to make us consider the implica-
tions of not getting it right – so we listened
to the music. Sweeping us across time and
space Nana Mouskouri hummed ‘
Recuerdos
de la Alhambra
’, a mournful piece of music
about the ‘red fort’ of Alhambra, a fortress
built by the Moors in Granada, Spain.
The settler Moors had become highly suc-
cessful businessmen owning the bulk of
the land. So in 1421 they were told to go
back to where they had come from, despite
having settled there 700 years earlier. This
tragic period of history resulted from an-
other ‘land question’ and need for ‘radical
economic transformation’. The melancholic
message suggested if we don’t get the land
issue right, we will all be losers.
Prof Karaan recommended reading ‘
The
land is ours
’ by Tembeka Ngcukaitobi who
suggests it is no good saying the South Af-
rican Constitution stands as a monument to
the word claiming that South Africa belongs
to all – yet it is a hollow hope for so many
and millions continue to starve. ‘
As ons nie
die vraag reg verstaan nie, gaan die ant-
woord nie relevant wees nie!’
Prof Karaan says we are living in ambiguous
times:
We wanted growth and we wanted
equity – but growth did not bring more
equity.
We wanted redistribution to be assisted
by market-based land reform – it didn’t
bring us that.
We said we wanted justice and equity
– we got justice but not equity.
We wanted growth amidst uncertainty
– but growth and uncertainty don’t go
together.
We want greater employment – but we
also want higher wages.
All these ambiguities challenge the eco-
nomic decisions that need to be made.
The National Development Plan (NDP) has
three main priorities:
Growth and economic transformation.
Enhancing educational outcomes – focus
on children.
Improving capability of the State.
So agriculture must focus on:
Land reform as proposed in the NDP, in-
cluding ‘softer forms’ of expropriation.
Water reform. Do more with less water.
Education and incubation. Teach people
to farm and apprentice them.
Integrating state and markets.
Revitalising agriculture in former home-
land areas by addressing issues facing
small-scale farmers to avoid poverty.
Prof Karaan acknowledged the role
Grain SA is playing in this arena. Keep doing
more – keep doing better. According to him
fault lines in land reform are:
We chose market-based land reform
– but the market in itself is not equitable.
We allowed people to take money in
place of the land.
We are scared of reforming communal
ownership to encourage production and
tenure security.
JENNY MATHEWS,
SA Graan/Grain
contributor
Prof Mohammad Karaan has been dean of the Faculty of Agri Sciences at
Stellenbosch University since 2008. He has held numerous advisory positions
including chairman of the National Agricultural Marketing Council, co-ordina-
tor of Executive Training Programme for African Agribusinesses, president of
the Agricultural Economics Association of SA, is still a member of the National
Planning Commission and is no stranger to role-players in the agri-sector.
Prof Mohammad Karaan.
Produk-inligting
REVIEW
Congress
Special
April 2018
26