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5
April 2018
The land debate
i
must admit that I am really proud of the manner in which
the members of Grain SA handled and discussed the issue of
land expropriation without compensation during Congress
2018. For me it was an important breakthrough in which the
middle ground between left and right emotions won the day.
May this be a forerunner of what is still to come!
In all the media debates by the so called ‘specialists’ in our com-
munity which I followed, one analysis brought my thoughts to a halt:
Our 1994 Constitution is in principle based on restorative justice,
while some of the participants in the current debate want to turn the
property rights clause into a punitive justice matter.
The rainbow nation dream of 1994 generated emotions in people
that has the potential to bring healing to the broken relationships
in the country. There is healing in forgiveness and absolution, but
there is bitterness and revenge where healing does not happen. As
far as I am concerned, this goes quite a lot further than just the man-
ner in which expropriation must take place.
Grain SA sufficiently confirmed that expropriation is found in
Constitutions all over the world and is being practised as such, and
that we understand it. The keyword giving rise to all the emotions, is
the ‘without compensation’ matter. It is not loaded with restoration
but with retribution.
Is it the need of some that white people must be punished, or is
the real need farm land on which to farm? It was interesting to note
that the land occupation by members of the red berets recently in
Olievenhoutbos was not focused on agricultural land, but on land
for housing. I also wonder whether the choice of land was not only
based on the easy access to the spot for the media in order to
make the headlines, or was it based on their specific needs?
I definitely did not get the impression that these people really wanted
to farm. Can these people not be assisted to get houses with title
deeds? We regularly hear about the Free Market Foundation’s initia-
tives in this regard, but I do not see that the State is participating
with the same enthusiasm to support our urbanised population
with title deeds.
I have already heard from a large number of producers who would
definitely give assistance for their workers to obtain property rights
– and not just occupational rights – of houses in town.
What I did notice is that this idea of expropriation without compen-
sation has definitely shifted some ground plates. Many role-players
are thinking far outside the fixed thought frameworks of the past
20 years to search for new solutions. That is a gain. I remain firmly
convinced that it is time for organised agriculture to put forward a
solution.
The fact that we have not yet succeeded in settling sufficient
numbers of commercial scale black producers, is merely because
we have left the process largely in the hands of the State. The finan-
cial institutions were caught in the regulatory frameworks and must
now come forward with solutions that will even change the frame-
work, to expedite financing.
I trust that in a few years when we look back over 2018 and 2019 we
will be proud of what we have achieved to save our country from
ruin. A few very important meetings have been called for the end of
March, which I believe, will be indicative of what the future holds.
The mere existence of an organisation like Grain SA is an important
building block to give direction for the future. Thank you for every-
one’s contribution and good luck to all our negotiators.