Date: 18/07/2005
Source: Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs
Title: Didiza: National Press Club
Presentation by Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms T Didiza, at the National Press Club
THE LAND SUMMIT – A REVIEW OF PROGRESS MADE AND THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD
Eleven years after our democracy we have thought it necessary that together with the various stakeholders in our country we reflect on how far we have gone in implementing our Constitutional obligations and policies with regard to land and agrarian reform in South Africa.
Our own ten year review noted the progress that we have made in the first decade of our freedom in a variety of areas, amongst them land and agrarian reform. A number of studies have also been made by Non-governmental organisations, political parties as well as business groupings who have also acknowledged the centrality of land reform in South Africa’s political economy.
The interesting thing is that the outcomes of such studies raise a number of common issues which have been discussed in a number of fora such as the issue of land use and access for development in particular housing, the cost of urban and rural land which have negative effects on the pace of delivery, the administration of land by a number of government departments and spheres, the support by government to those who have been settled on the land as a result of land reform programmes in particular agricultural support, the issues of tenure reform of farm dwellers, the role that business and commercial agriculture need to play in land delivery, the needs of women and youth with regard to access to land and the possible re-opening land restitution program.
We have noted that the interest shown by so many people in our country indicates the need for all of us to deal with this matter with the maturity and the urgency that it deserves. It was clear to us as government therefore that we need to have a dialogue amongst our stakeholders where we can look at the progress we have made so far. The challenges that we have continued to face regardless of certain interventions that we may have made be in the form of legislation or policy change.
Interestingly, this Summit also comes during the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, which also laid a basis for land and agrarian reform in the future South Africa that they envisaged then. It therefore calls us to also reflect on whether or not we have addressed the issues that were raised at Kliptown in 1955.
PROGRESS THUS FAR
The first decade of democracy saw the laying of a solid foundation for the implementation of the land and agrarian reform programme. The development of policy and legislative framework took government sometime to accomplish mainly because of the desire to bring stability and sustainability in implementing the programme. Therefore there is acknowledgement that the considerable progress made might not be perceived as enough.
If one looks at Restitution as at the end of June 2005 we have settled 62 127 out of the 68 000 claims launched. However, you will note that during our validation the actual figure of the launched claims came to 79 000. The resolved claims where land restoration has been an option this has contributed to 916 470 ha. Obviously, in the inception of the program we had anticipated that more beneficiaries would opt for land, even if alternative land was available.
On redistribution programme we have delivered 3,1 million ha of land which has benefited rural and urban communities through the Extension of Tenure programme, Labour tenants, emerging farmers through LRAD, and Commonage programmes.
The legislative reform in the areas of land administration and tenure security has also addressed the needs of rural communities through the Communal Land Rights Act.
In order to respond to gaps that have been identified in particular the regulation of ownership of land by foreigners, we have set up a panel whose task is to undertake research on the extent of ownership of land by foreigners in South Africa today, assess what is the system internationally in a number of areas and advice of what possible policy framework that this country should have.
We will appreciate that the land reform programme cannot succeed by itself without the necessary support from a range of stakeholders within and outside government. One of these is the agricultural support services to the newly settled farmers and communities.
As we would all appreciate, agriculture in South Africa needed transformation. As at 1994 a policy review had to be undertaken taking into consideration the needs of a variety of stakeholders. Some of these were the de-racialisation of the sector, gender mainstreaming given that the prevailing view at the time was that agriculture is a male domain, issues of agricultural support as well as market access both domestically and internationally needed to be addressed.
In 2001 an Agriculture Sector plan was drafted and adopted by all stakeholders in agriculture including government. The Sector plan noted the centrality of Land Reform in the transformation of the agricultural sector in South Africa. It can therefore be said that the Land Reform Program for Agricultural Development was a response by the two departments to address this challenge. The broadening participation through the now debated AgriBEE is also about addressing these issues of transformation and equity.
Agricultural Support as we have said is critical. As we will appreciate, agricultural departments in all the provinces have been grappling with the identification of programmes to support these newly settled farmers, albeit with limited resources.
This prompted the development of the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, whose idea was to have a national agreed common programme to support farmers in areas of finance, information, technology transfer, market access and market development and infrastructure.
In taking forward the implementation of this programme we have received additional support from Treasury to address infrastructure needs of newly settled farmers as well as those that operate in communal areas. The first phase of implementation commenced last year. Progress has not been even in all the provinces, but all of them have made a start. In the financing area, the Land Bank has responded to this mandate by developing programmes that support emerging farmers as well as agribusiness entrepreneurs. Of note is that during the year 2001 we worked with the Land Bank to pilot the first LRAD pilot in Nkomazi where 7 projects in communal areas received an amount of R68 million rand to enter into commercial sugar production. A number of emerging and medium scale farmers have benefited through the joint programme with Land Bank. It must be noted that some Financial Institutions have also come to the fore in financing historically disadvantaged communities.
However as we would all appreciate such financing does not sometimes address the needs of the most vulnerable due to the stringent requirements that unbankable farmers in particular in rural areas may have. We would know that in the past besides the Land Bank, you also had the Agricultural Credit Board which used to finance this category of people, albeit all of them were white safe to say in 1994 the picture began to change.
Therefore following the announcement by the President last year that government will re establish the Agricultural Finance Scheme within the department of Agriculture to support small and medium scale farmers in communal and rural areas in general, and leave the Land Bank to focus on commercial activities. We have launched the agricultural credit scheme, known as MAFISA in May this year in Sekhukhune District Municipality.
Challenges Faced
Clearly the picture I have painted above indicates the progress that has been made thus far in the land and agrarian sector. However, it shows that the challenge of delivery we have is enormous. This we say because our very own targets as a country which were set in 1994 arising from the Reconstruction and Development Programme indicated that we will deliver 30 per cent of agricultural land to historically disadvantaged communities. The question that we have asked ourselves was why?
The formation of the new government and the integration of a number of administration including personnel was not as easy. The reality of our Constitution was such that legislative frameworks had to be put in place as well as setting up of Commission and Land Claims Court before implementation. An example of this is the restitution programme, which only commenced in 1995 through the calling for registration and implementation, which involved research. Certainly issues of capacity within government itself needed to be addressed as well as systems.
In looking at housing delivery for instance the programme was not entirely seen as part and parcel of land reform. If you look at the current challenges the issues of Land for housing has emerged. The spatial development pattern also tells the story of the cost of land closer to the cities.
There have been contributory factors to the not enough progress, one of which is the result of the policy on market-based land reform (willing buyer/willing seller). When the policy was introduced there was anticipation from government that there would be an honest commitment to the process from both sides.
However we have seen exorbitant price increase by sellers for land they know has been earmarked for purchase by restitution claimants. Government has had to pay a high prize in thinking that those concerned would be driven by willingness to do justice to the country’s history.
In the case where negotiations to acquire land from sellers fail, government has a constitutional duty in terms of section 42E of the Restitution Act to implement land expropriation. A process to amend the current Expropriation Act of 1975, to bring it in line with the Constitution is undertaken by the Department of Public Works so that it covers generally our Constitutional mandate. As we would appreciate the 1975 Act did not take into consideration the issues of land reform as we are dealing with it today.
What Will The Summit Seek To Achieve?
Our intention in having a summit earlier on is argued in the identification of what challenges we want to address. The cooperation is expected to take forward the post summit process in order to realise the objectives thereof (of the summit). Increased future engagement will help bring about sustainability in all land reform projects which is likely to see the speeding up of the process.
The co-operation between the three tiers of government is also a very crucial vehicle to address challenges faced by government. The issue of sustainable human settlement and land use management and spatial planning is important in the realisation of a ‘Better Life For All’ as a government programme. According to government and its stakeholders during the planning process the post summit process is also very crucial in making sure that the history of South Africa will be rewritten as a result of the land summit.
I thank you.
Enquiries
Steve Galane
Tel: (012) 319 7312
Cell: 083 635 7346
E-mail:smais@nda.agric.za
Issued by: Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs
18 July 2005
Source: Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs
Title: Didiza: National Press Club
Presentation by Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms T Didiza, at the National Press Club
THE LAND SUMMIT – A REVIEW OF PROGRESS MADE AND THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD
Eleven years after our democracy we have thought it necessary that together with the various stakeholders in our country we reflect on how far we have gone in implementing our Constitutional obligations and policies with regard to land and agrarian reform in South Africa.
Our own ten year review noted the progress that we have made in the first decade of our freedom in a variety of areas, amongst them land and agrarian reform. A number of studies have also been made by Non-governmental organisations, political parties as well as business groupings who have also acknowledged the centrality of land reform in South Africa’s political economy.
The interesting thing is that the outcomes of such studies raise a number of common issues which have been discussed in a number of fora such as the issue of land use and access for development in particular housing, the cost of urban and rural land which have negative effects on the pace of delivery, the administration of land by a number of government departments and spheres, the support by government to those who have been settled on the land as a result of land reform programmes in particular agricultural support, the issues of tenure reform of farm dwellers, the role that business and commercial agriculture need to play in land delivery, the needs of women and youth with regard to access to land and the possible re-opening land restitution program.
We have noted that the interest shown by so many people in our country indicates the need for all of us to deal with this matter with the maturity and the urgency that it deserves. It was clear to us as government therefore that we need to have a dialogue amongst our stakeholders where we can look at the progress we have made so far. The challenges that we have continued to face regardless of certain interventions that we may have made be in the form of legislation or policy change.
Interestingly, this Summit also comes during the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, which also laid a basis for land and agrarian reform in the future South Africa that they envisaged then. It therefore calls us to also reflect on whether or not we have addressed the issues that were raised at Kliptown in 1955.
PROGRESS THUS FAR
The first decade of democracy saw the laying of a solid foundation for the implementation of the land and agrarian reform programme. The development of policy and legislative framework took government sometime to accomplish mainly because of the desire to bring stability and sustainability in implementing the programme. Therefore there is acknowledgement that the considerable progress made might not be perceived as enough.
If one looks at Restitution as at the end of June 2005 we have settled 62 127 out of the 68 000 claims launched. However, you will note that during our validation the actual figure of the launched claims came to 79 000. The resolved claims where land restoration has been an option this has contributed to 916 470 ha. Obviously, in the inception of the program we had anticipated that more beneficiaries would opt for land, even if alternative land was available.
On redistribution programme we have delivered 3,1 million ha of land which has benefited rural and urban communities through the Extension of Tenure programme, Labour tenants, emerging farmers through LRAD, and Commonage programmes.
The legislative reform in the areas of land administration and tenure security has also addressed the needs of rural communities through the Communal Land Rights Act.
In order to respond to gaps that have been identified in particular the regulation of ownership of land by foreigners, we have set up a panel whose task is to undertake research on the extent of ownership of land by foreigners in South Africa today, assess what is the system internationally in a number of areas and advice of what possible policy framework that this country should have.
We will appreciate that the land reform programme cannot succeed by itself without the necessary support from a range of stakeholders within and outside government. One of these is the agricultural support services to the newly settled farmers and communities.
As we would all appreciate, agriculture in South Africa needed transformation. As at 1994 a policy review had to be undertaken taking into consideration the needs of a variety of stakeholders. Some of these were the de-racialisation of the sector, gender mainstreaming given that the prevailing view at the time was that agriculture is a male domain, issues of agricultural support as well as market access both domestically and internationally needed to be addressed.
In 2001 an Agriculture Sector plan was drafted and adopted by all stakeholders in agriculture including government. The Sector plan noted the centrality of Land Reform in the transformation of the agricultural sector in South Africa. It can therefore be said that the Land Reform Program for Agricultural Development was a response by the two departments to address this challenge. The broadening participation through the now debated AgriBEE is also about addressing these issues of transformation and equity.
Agricultural Support as we have said is critical. As we will appreciate, agricultural departments in all the provinces have been grappling with the identification of programmes to support these newly settled farmers, albeit with limited resources.
This prompted the development of the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, whose idea was to have a national agreed common programme to support farmers in areas of finance, information, technology transfer, market access and market development and infrastructure.
In taking forward the implementation of this programme we have received additional support from Treasury to address infrastructure needs of newly settled farmers as well as those that operate in communal areas. The first phase of implementation commenced last year. Progress has not been even in all the provinces, but all of them have made a start. In the financing area, the Land Bank has responded to this mandate by developing programmes that support emerging farmers as well as agribusiness entrepreneurs. Of note is that during the year 2001 we worked with the Land Bank to pilot the first LRAD pilot in Nkomazi where 7 projects in communal areas received an amount of R68 million rand to enter into commercial sugar production. A number of emerging and medium scale farmers have benefited through the joint programme with Land Bank. It must be noted that some Financial Institutions have also come to the fore in financing historically disadvantaged communities.
However as we would all appreciate such financing does not sometimes address the needs of the most vulnerable due to the stringent requirements that unbankable farmers in particular in rural areas may have. We would know that in the past besides the Land Bank, you also had the Agricultural Credit Board which used to finance this category of people, albeit all of them were white safe to say in 1994 the picture began to change.
Therefore following the announcement by the President last year that government will re establish the Agricultural Finance Scheme within the department of Agriculture to support small and medium scale farmers in communal and rural areas in general, and leave the Land Bank to focus on commercial activities. We have launched the agricultural credit scheme, known as MAFISA in May this year in Sekhukhune District Municipality.
Challenges Faced
Clearly the picture I have painted above indicates the progress that has been made thus far in the land and agrarian sector. However, it shows that the challenge of delivery we have is enormous. This we say because our very own targets as a country which were set in 1994 arising from the Reconstruction and Development Programme indicated that we will deliver 30 per cent of agricultural land to historically disadvantaged communities. The question that we have asked ourselves was why?
The formation of the new government and the integration of a number of administration including personnel was not as easy. The reality of our Constitution was such that legislative frameworks had to be put in place as well as setting up of Commission and Land Claims Court before implementation. An example of this is the restitution programme, which only commenced in 1995 through the calling for registration and implementation, which involved research. Certainly issues of capacity within government itself needed to be addressed as well as systems.
In looking at housing delivery for instance the programme was not entirely seen as part and parcel of land reform. If you look at the current challenges the issues of Land for housing has emerged. The spatial development pattern also tells the story of the cost of land closer to the cities.
There have been contributory factors to the not enough progress, one of which is the result of the policy on market-based land reform (willing buyer/willing seller). When the policy was introduced there was anticipation from government that there would be an honest commitment to the process from both sides.
However we have seen exorbitant price increase by sellers for land they know has been earmarked for purchase by restitution claimants. Government has had to pay a high prize in thinking that those concerned would be driven by willingness to do justice to the country’s history.
In the case where negotiations to acquire land from sellers fail, government has a constitutional duty in terms of section 42E of the Restitution Act to implement land expropriation. A process to amend the current Expropriation Act of 1975, to bring it in line with the Constitution is undertaken by the Department of Public Works so that it covers generally our Constitutional mandate. As we would appreciate the 1975 Act did not take into consideration the issues of land reform as we are dealing with it today.
What Will The Summit Seek To Achieve?
Our intention in having a summit earlier on is argued in the identification of what challenges we want to address. The cooperation is expected to take forward the post summit process in order to realise the objectives thereof (of the summit). Increased future engagement will help bring about sustainability in all land reform projects which is likely to see the speeding up of the process.
The co-operation between the three tiers of government is also a very crucial vehicle to address challenges faced by government. The issue of sustainable human settlement and land use management and spatial planning is important in the realisation of a ‘Better Life For All’ as a government programme. According to government and its stakeholders during the planning process the post summit process is also very crucial in making sure that the history of South Africa will be rewritten as a result of the land summit.
I thank you.
Enquiries
Steve Galane
Tel: (012) 319 7312
Cell: 083 635 7346
E-mail:smais@nda.agric.za
Issued by: Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs
18 July 2005
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