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"It is unreasonable to expect South African commercial farmers to create more employment opportunities and in this way assist with rural development when they have no certainty about their own future," Dr. Pieter Mulder, FF Plus leader and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in the Parliamentary debate about President Zuma's State of the Nation Address.

Rural development is rightfully one of the priorities of the government. "In my contact the past nine months with farmers throughout the country, they realize the importance of this and offer their assistance. The commercial farmers however ask me how they are to create more jobs and develop their farms when after fifteen years they are still not certain that they will be keeping their land," according to Dr. Mulder.

"There is also a lot of uncertainty about safety in rural areas with a large number of farm murders. Why can farm murders not be given as a separate police statistic? The farming community accepts the reasons to be that farm murders, of both white and black people, are not important for government," Mulder said.

Dr. Mulder also referred to the twenty African states which have made various enticing offers to get South African commercial farmers to go and farm in their countries. It gives an indication of the great value that the rest of Africa attaches to South African commercial farmers.