ANC must get real on land

The current impasse our country faces at its core, is a lack of land ownership by black South Africans. Ownership provides dignity, security, the ability to secure loans and finally to build intergenerational wealth. Ownership and assistance is especially important for emerging farmers to ensure they are successful.

In reply to a DA parliamentary question the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform confirmed that it is receiving R13.492m per year for land that is being leased out. Among the beneficiaries named in this parliamentary reply is one David Rakgase.

Last year the DA learned of Mr Rakgase’s fight for land ownership. DA leader Mmusi Maimane was invited to his property last year, where he has been farming successfully. This is where we came across the real constraint in the land reform process: the ANC government.

Mr Rakgase has been leasing this farm from the government since April 1991 and has never defaulted on his rental payments, yet the ANC refuses to cede ownership to him, after having promised to do so. The DA decided to intervene and is assisting Mr Rakgase with legal action against this uncaring government, to finally get ownership of his farm.

This is just one story of many people who have been failed by the current government. Land reform without the transfer of ownership does not address the unequal racial and gender ownership patterns in SA. The ANC must stop taking the lead from its policy directorate, the EFF, and embark on a process of real land reform that will truly benefit the people.

Annette Steyn, MP DA shadow agriculture, forestry & fisheries minister