Land redistribution holds back KZN

Land redistribution in KZN lags behind, hindering farming success, recent research by Unisa found.

The land redistribution process in KwaZulu-Natal trails behind when compared with other provinces and this hinders farming success.

This is according to the findings of a research project by Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL).

The research was carried out in the northern district of the province and led by SBL’s area head for finance and economics, Professor Nhlanhla Mbatha.

The study indicated the distribution process had been unable to meet government standards, making many farms unsuccessful after the transfer process.

“In many land redistribution projects, we found that the state lost most of its buyer’s bargaining power. The loss was mainly because of the drawn-out nature of the transfer processes and flawed land valuation processes,” said Mbatha.

“In 2003, only 3.8% of the land originally available for redistribution in KwaZulu-Natal had been redistributed to previously disadvantaged individuals. While formal policy targeted the year 2014 as the time by which 30% of land resources would have been transferred to black South Africans, very few transfers had taken place and the 2014 target remains far out of sight.”

The research revealed the distribution process worked best when government agencies set up long-term agreements between previous and new farmers. These agreements must be aimed at enforcing or encouraging cooperation that is mutually beneficial, added Mbatha.

“Benefits to new farmers could be measured through factors such as terms of skills transfers, and access to value chain networks of established institutions. Benefits to old farmers could be in financial terms but also in the form of being part of a progressive movement aimed at a broader social transformation agenda,” he said.

According to Mbatha, there was a need to approach the redistribution process from the angle of a cooperative framework of medium to long-term binding contracts. Mbatha said 32 sugarcane farms were redistributed in the iLembe and uThungulu districts between 2002 and 2006.

He said the government paid on average a premium of 4% above market value in both districts.