Agri unions question ‘zero-value land’

Some government-owned as well as privately owned land suitable for land reform has no financial value. This emerged in a presentation by the head of the office of the Valuer-General, Christopher Gavor, to the Parliamentary portfolio committee on rural development and land reform.

Gavor told the committee that land valuations were based on a combination of how the land was originally procured, the market value, the extent to which government subsidies were used for the acquisition, and what it was currently being used for.

According to media reports, Gavor also said that “there can be examples of privately owned property where the land is not currently being used. The economic value of that property will [then] be zero.”

Louis Meintjes, president of TAU SA, said his organisation questioned “this senseless point of view because it may well pave the way for the disastrous policy of expropriation without compensation, which government is currently contemplating”.

“To suggest that any form of property which was acquired will overnight be regarded as worthless, is ridiculous. TAU SA rejects this state of affairs and will do all in its power to prevent privately owned property being relegated in this way. It will have no other consequence [than] to speed up the process of economic collapse,” he said.

Annelize Crosby, head of land affairs at Agri SA, told Farmer’s Weekly that, while the state was free to give its land a zero value and that there “may be merit” in doing this for unutilised state land, this could not be applied to privately owned land.

“State land cannot be expropriated, but it can be made available at little or no cost for land reform purposes. Private landowners cannot be expected to bear the burden of land reform, which is in the broader public interest.” – Lloyd Phillips