A win-win land reform success

THE SPIN-offs derived from the public-private partnership between the government and the private sector make for a springboard to successful land reform.

The convergence of the Gauteng Provincial Shared Service Centre of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and Pick n Pay in making the Dreamland Piggery Farm an agricultural success, has not only provided a blueprint for land reform projects but has created an opportunity for black South Africans to finally realise the possibility of radical economic transformation.

Through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, the department pro-actively purchases land with high agricultural potential, then selects beneficiaries who can lease the land and also give them an option to purchase it.

The Dreamland Piggery Farm in Vanderbijlpark is a perfect example. Its lessee, Anna Phosa started her piggery business with her family in 2004 with four sows after she enlisted assistance from the department to get the 318ha farm she owned on a 50/50 basis.

Today through the Ackerman and Pick n Pay Foundation’s Small Business Incubator programme,the Dreamland Farm supplies Pick n Pay with 3 000 pigs.

So post settlement support of land beneficiaries through private partnership is a winning formula. THEMBA MZULA HLEKO Pretoria