Farms collapse as land reform fails in South Africa

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

Another Zim 2.0 story...

SA becomes net importer of food as vast tracts of land lie fallow.

South Africa’s food security is threatened by its chaotic rural land reform programme.

Thousands of once-productive farms, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, lie abandoned and are causing serious shortages of staple foods.

The country now imports more food than it exports and local production of grain, fruit and vegetables can no longer keep pace with the growing population.

Uncertainty about South Africa’s land reform process — the authorities recently extended for the fourth time their deadline to finalise claims — has seen scores of commercial farmers stopping all investments in their properties. Others are leaving for more stable pastures, with many opting for Mozambique’s subtropical fruit and grain industry or stock farming in Botswana.

Although there have been success stories in land restitution, the process aimed to improve livelihoods has left scores of communities divided and in debt.

A private company appointed by the government as a strategic partner to provide management expertise for newly acquired restitution farms in Limpopo and Mpumalanga has collapsed, leaving beneficiaries owing millions in unpaid debt.

This week, the Land Claims Commission said an audit of the struggling projects has been concluded, but failed to provide specifics. But it did say the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs would take the lead in the implementation of a “revival strategy”.

The new Land and Agrarian Reform Programme promises to put together support packages, employ project managers, engage strategic partners and landowners, procure investment and redesign farming operations.

On a two-week visit to farms around the country, the Sunday Times discovered that:

# Twenty top crop and dairy farms in the Eastern Cape, bought for R11.6-million and returned to a Kokstad community, are now informal settlements;

# A once-thriving potato farm in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is now a makeshift soccer field;

# Ten thousand people given back 8000ha of prime fruit and macadamia farms in Limpopo are crippled by R5-million debt;

# A former multimillion-rand tea estate in Magoebaskloof in Limpopo has become an overgrown forest;

# More than five tons of a macadamia nut crop on a reclaimed Limpopo farm was so poor that it was dumped into the Levubu river; and

# A R22-million irrigation system built by the government to supply water to new farmers in KwaZulu-Natal lies unused.

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[Alan]

Wow never saw this coming

 

[marine1]

Got to love the way Africa does business. What a shame.

 

[sand_man]

Got to love the way Africa does business.

Yeah and therein lies the problem, we don't do business in Africa, it's hand me outs to mates and family and bugger the consequences...

 

[iDenTiTy]

Yeah and therein lies the problem, we don't do business in Africa, it's hand me outs to mates and family and bugger the consequences...

+10000

Africa knows not what progress means...

 

[PeterCH]

No need to worry guys! The Saudis will bail us out!!!
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=2588570#post2588570

 

[Morgoth]

No need to worry guys! The Saudis will bail us out!!!
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=2588570#post2588570

Its a trick to steal our Bio oil =)

 

[PeterCH]

Its a trick to steal our Bio oil =)

Trick or no trick, who cares right? It's more cash for the ANC!!!
Let the good times continue....

We'll have a fresh new batch of gravy train candidates after April, they'll need the $$$.

 

[Sackboy]

I'm thinking perhaps they don't have any former History students in government. They seem to want to learn by mistakes (if they learn at all). You can't tell them anything.

 

[PeterCH]

Sackboy - you don't get it. That private company which was asked to assist those farmers, that was a special BEE partner, and you know cash flowed both ways. All those projects - eg that irrigation - that was paid for by the govt but the money went to partners. It's not about helping the poor - it's about something else.... .

 

[Sackboy]

Sackboy - you don't get it. That private company which was asked to assist those farmers, that was a special BEE partner, and you know cash flowed both ways. All those projects - eg that irrigation - that was paid for by the govt but the money went to partners. It's not about helping the poor - it's about something else.... .

I've got it. It's about taking working successful farms away from people based on their colour and history and placing them in the hands of 'communities' with little or no experience.
No wonder SA is a net importer of food. One just has to look in the supermarkets. Even the quality of fruit and veg has dropped.

 

[stoke]

# More than five tons of a macadamia nut crop on a reclaimed Limpopo farm was so poor that it was dumped into the Levubu river; and

Why on earth is a river considered a good place to dump stuff?
Insane!

 

[Sackboy]

Why on earth is a river considered a good place to dump stuff?
Insane!

+1

 

[PeterCH]

I've got it. It's about taking working successful farms away from people based on their colour and history and placing them in the hands of 'communities' with little or no experience.
No wonder SA is a net importer of food. One just has to look in the supermarkets. Even the quality of fruit and veg has dropped.

Nooooo!

It's about making a buck, any way possible. The new crew arrives in April,
you'll new opportunities for money making emerging. It's been about the gravy train for years now and once one lot got kicked off - they formed the COPE
and said what everyone else knew. Money makes the world go round.

 

[stoke]

In fact, it made them hate labour in all its forms because for them it was not voluntary

I am now sitting back and waiting for the esteemed Mphela to stand up and show me all the people in the world who love labour.
I cannot believe this moron is actually blaming a humans natural desire to be lazy on apartheid.
What utter BS!

And, laying blame on processes and procedure and hand-holding is such a cop-out. The blame must be laid squarely at the new owners feet.

Use it, or lose it, no more freebies.

 

[Sackboy]

I think Zuma will take a more pragmatic approach to AA problems. He will look after the workers as well. He has enough savvy and less bitterness than Mbeki ever had.

 

[marine1]

Zuma? Zuma is here for Zuma.

 

[PeterCH]

I think Zuma will take a more pragmatic approach to AA problems. He will look after the workers as well. He has enough savvy and less bitterness than Mbeki ever had.

You sir have fallen for the hype.

 

[Sackboy]

You sir have fallen for the hype.

Nope, I've listen to what he has to say and made my judgement accordingly.
I suppose you preferred Mbeki?

 

[PeterCH]

Nope, I've listen to what he has to say and made my judgement accordingly.
I suppose you preferred Mbeki?

No - I see the Mbeki vs Zuma struggle as two guys wanting the top spot at the trough but there is only one spot.