Unlocking value of redistributed land

POST-settlement support must be prioritised for redistributed land.

Land has no economic value to the beneficiaries without the requisite support.

Without post-settlement support, land reform programmes will not yield any sustainable development or improve the quality of life of rural people.

The objective of land reform programmes is to address the need for land by the previously disadvantaged. The aim is to eradicate poverty, promote economic development and improve the quality of life for all.

New landowners or land reform beneficiaries are not financially stable and lack the resources to turn their farms into commercially viable farms that are able to ensure food security and liberalise the markets by eradicating monopolies and improving the livelihoods of rural communities.

Adequate post-settlement support including mass access to training, credit, markets, agricultural subsidies, insurance and extension services would go a long way towards radicalising the economic advancement of the previously disadvantaged.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is mandated to facilitate land acquisition. Beneficiaries should not be trapped in poverty after farms have been handed over.

The announcement by the minister of rural development and land reform during the Budget speech that almost R700 million will be set aside to spruce up post-settlement on restituted farms has brought hope.

Land which is redistributed without the requisite support fails to unlock its full value.

All land reform beneficiaries should be subsidised until they are self-sustainable. The private sector must assist as land reform is “everybody’s business”.