•••
• •
F UT UR E F O CUS • •
It is now time to pray … and it is time to speak up. So give
your support to those organisations that are your voice!
safety. The bottom line: Farming
requires a full-on commitment
and there is never a moment
when the farmer is not worry-
ing over one or other decision:
Should we plant/spray/harvest
today, tomorrow... next week?
Should I hedge my crop now?
Will the price move up/down next
week? Should I install alarms for
improved security? How effective
are security companies? Should I
buy/sell land... how serious is this
threat to land ownership? Should
I mechanise...or do the right thing
and create employment... but then
I am exposed to labour issues and
farm workers must be given a
share in the farming business... I
am hardly surviving in the current
economy, how can I facilitate that
process? Farmers are as challenged
as the most highly pressured
businessmen to find the road to
survival and anyone believing that
farming is an easy career … is
wearing rose-tinted spectacles!
So what concerns are farmers cur-
rently preoccupied with? A “hot”
topic on everyone’s lips is the land
question. Many a sleepless farmer
questions the wisdom of holding
onto land which may be expropri-
ated without compensa tion…
Political analyst JP Landman
places the issue under his looking
glass. He highlights Zuma’s SONA
2017 wish to “return the land to
the people using Constitutional
means” and Minister of Land
Affairs Gugile Nkwinti’s statement
in the National Assembly to con-
duct “a pre-colonial audit of land
ownership, use and occupation
patterns” and to develop a single
law to address the issue of land
restitution without compensa-
tion”. He notes that Ramaphosa
deflected the question when asked
about expropriation without
compensation saying, “Amending
the Constitution is a strategy…
implementing what is in the
Constitution is another strategy”.
Landman believes “the balance of
forces at the moment is against
changing the Constitution”. This
is strengthened by the release
of ANC policy documents stat-
ing: ‘There are no “change the
Constitution” or “expropriate
without compensation” propos-
als… It is all very much “return
the land to the people using
Constitutional means”. Landman
also highlighted Section 25 (2)
in the Constitution, which spec-
ifies that compensation must be
“just and equitable”. Nowhere is
the willing buyer, willing seller
dispensation entrenched in the
Constitution. Theo Boshoff of
Agbiz emphasises that Section 25
‘mechanisms were carefully crafted
to bring about transformation
and restorative justice in a manner
that is just and equitable, based
on international norms and stan-
dards.’
At the 2017 Grain SA Congress,
Chairman Jaco Minnaar empha-
sised that the organisation says
‘NO’ to land expropriation
without compensation. He also
highlighted the fact that increas-
ing numbers of farms in the
market are readily available for
government to buy up for the
land reform programme, but
these opportunities are not being
pursued. Minnaar gave voice to
the overwhelming pressure expe-
rienced by farmers by taking issue
with the way farmers are consis-
tently depicted in a negative light
and are treated as the culprits in
the slow land reform process.
The Agricultural Outlook 2016
– 2025, issued by BFAP (http://
www.bfap.co.za), highlights that
South African agriculture has
performed well in spite of global
competition and poor climatic
conditions, and is optimistic
about producers’ ability to deliver
on the food security issue. But it
also highlights the fact that uncer-
tainty amongst farmers on the
property issue means farmers are
hesitant to invest new capital e.g.
in replacement orchards, employ-
ment patterns or labour-intensive
crops. The pressure and burden
of responsibility for land reform
and transformation placed on
commercial farmers seems to be
an attempt to deflect attention
from the inherent weaknesses in
failed implementation strategies
employed by government. BFAP
notes: “Many of the constraints
that have hampered growth can
be turned around through an
efficient and effective bureaucracy
and clear and direct leadership”
and “Small things which require
no further requests to treasury but
merely realignment or resources
have the potential to bring large
returns by unlocking potential
growth”.
The powers-that-be have the
mandate to make changes and
they also have the means to …
but the will to implement is
shrouded in the mists of political
ambition and rhetoric. Agri SA’s
Omri van Zyl says farmers need
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