Land being used to fuel populist agendas

IF THE response of Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane to a question tabled by Freedom Front Plus leader Dr Pieter Groenewald had been widely published, then the distortion of the facts concerning land reform and ownership, which is serving to fuel emotions and populist agendas, would diminish.

Central to the highly charged debate is the claim that whites still own 72% of agricultural holdings and that only 4% is in black hands. But as an analysis on Politcsweb on January 8 points out, these statistics are disingenuous because of the context in which they are presented.

The contrast of 72% to 4% holdings refers to individually owned, non-urban classes of land. As statistics they exclude all stateowned land, community-held former homeland territory and land privately purchased by blacks through trusts, companies and closed corporations.

The minister’s response noted that 12.1 million hectares had been transferred in terms of land restitution.

What is missing from the statement is that the ANC inherited 16 million hectares of the former homeland territories. Thus, the extent of land restitution and redistribution between 1994 and 2017 is greater than what is commonly believed.

DR DUNCAN DU BOIS

Bluff