Wealthy black farmers buying land

Private sales need to be reflected in the government’s land reform statistics, says agri group

WHILE poor and developing black farmers in the Eastern Cape are waiting for the national government to speed up its land reform processes, wealthier black farmers are making their presence known when it comes to buying up agricultural land.

And while this positive shift in buying power should reflect well on land reform figures, agricultural researchers believe the government chooses not to take this trend into consideration when calculating the rate of land reform in the province.

Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane told business and agricultural stakeholders that land reform remained a sensitive topic and should be handled with maturity.

Speaking at a breakfast engagement in Port Elizabeth, he said many models for land reform had been implemented, some showing better results than others, but that the process was still slow.

“We understand the frustration, and we cannot have permanent frustration, we need solutions.

“But I cannot give you a permanent answer, because we are still trying to address that matter,” Qoboshiyane said.

Research into land sales, done by Agri Development Solutions (ADS), shows 343 land transactions in the Eastern Cape between February last year and January, with 55 pieces of land bought by black owners.

Only eight of these transactions, less than 15%, were government purchases.

However, 37 purchases (67%) were made by private black owners – a number ADS chairman Johan Bornman believes should be taken into account when talking about land reform figures.

“There seems to be a major misperception around the rate at which land reform is taking place,” he said.

“Private sales are equally as important because it shows a shift in economic and buying power that benefits black farmers and businessmen.

“But all we ever hear about is government purchases and poor farmers struggling to get land.

“According to government, land reform is not happening fast enough, but they are only showing selective figures to the public.

“Why not take all ownership of land into account and then give the public a more comprehensive view of land ownership?”

Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape president of the African Farmers’ Association of SA, Joe Mnyengo, said land reform was moving at a “tortoise pace”.

“There are too many hold-ups, and most of them come [at] a national government level.

“So, if farmers are able to negotiate their own purchases, or even do the transactions themselves, we are very happy to see this continue.”

Mnyengo said he was aware of at least 30 white farmers currently looking to sell land to the government but negotiations and payments could take as long as 18 months to be completed.