Mpumalanga land reform corruption scrutinised

The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (agriculture department), Thoko Didiza, recently met with Mpumalanga farmers and farmer organisations to address accusations of maladministration of land reform farms in the province.

According to a statement released by Didiza, the issues raised included nonrenewal of leases, corruption allegations, tension between farmers and labour tenants, and non-compliance with lease agreements.

DA MP Annette Steyn said the challenges these farmers faced had a long history.

“In 2015, [then Rural Development and] Land

Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti assured farmers they would be supported with outstanding rentals, which never happened. Then in 2016 farmers started receiving letters from the Department of [Rural Development and Land Reform] notifying them that their leases would not be renewed,” Steyn said.

As many of these farmers’ leases had since expired, they did not qualify for government support or any commercial credit for farming inputs or developments.

This forced many of them to sublet their farms to make ends meet. However, subletting was against the conditions set for government farms, placing the farmers on the wrong side of the law with the landowner, she said.

According to Steyn, her concerns were raised when it became apparent that the department was not treating farmers equally.

“Some farmers received eviction notices for non-payment [of] or noncompliance with certain lease conditions, but other farmers in the same district who were guilty of the same transgressions [received none].

“The fact that we were able to get five farmers to sign affidavits that they were asked [for] bribes in exchange for lease renewals makes the case for government corruption very clear in the case of Mpumalanga, where the minister is now intervening. But I believe this practice to be much more widespread throughout the country, and we’ll continue to uncover land reform malpractice as we interact with farmers.”

According to Didiza’s statement, all eviction letters served on farmers would be withdrawn, and a team from the agriculture department’s property management unit would meet with all farmers whose leases had not been finalised. She also made a commitment to meet with farmer organisations about postsettlement support, as well as agricultural development support for the affected farmers. – Wouter Kriel