The restitution of land to those previously dispossessed of it would not result in a stoppage of agricultural production in South Africa, the Land Claims Commission said yesterday.

Fears to this effect were being propagated by a minority "who believe that if you give land to blacks nothing will happen on that land", said chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya.

The government needed strategic partners to make the process work, and there were many commercial farmers committed to helping build a new generation of agriculturists, he said.

The Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) stood by its contention that restitution claims had been lodged for at least 70% of commercial farming land in Limpopo and Mpumalanga - the two provinces with the highest percentage of claims.

This was disputed by Gwanya, who said about 20% of commercial agricultural land had been claimed nationally - and up to 50% in the two provinces.

He also rejected the union's claim that failed restitution projects had cost the country millions of rands.

There had been some problems - but these were overshadowed by the successes.

He could not give figures in this regard, but said: "it is definitely not millions".

The commission was at pains to ensure that claimants intended putting the land to good use, Gwanya said. A viable land use plan was important, though not a prerequisite.

The government assisted upcoming farmers with a settlement planning grant and training programmes.

"Once a claim has been validated there has to be a careful balancing act (between the interests of the claimants and the future of the land)," Gwanya said.

TAU labour and property rights manager Jack Loggenberg described the restitution process as a big flop.

"The government realises this - that is why it is increasingly trying to get current land owners involved (in development)," he said.

The union was now more concerned about the effects of restitution than ever before, given the pending enactment of an expropriation clause of the Restitution of Land Rights Act.

An amendment bill was approved by Parliament last year, which empowers the land affairs minister to expropriate land without a court order.

This had the potential of ruining the country, Loggenberg said.

"Property rights are the cornerstone of a freemarket system. If that is taken away or damaged, the economy of the country will go down the drain".

The TAU intended fighting the clause with all its might, and was considering legal action.

Agri SA said most successful restitution claimants had trouble with farming in the beginning. There had been some reversals in production, but no critical financial losses.

"To get a process like this underway will always cost money. It is a learning curve. But if we don't start somewhere, we will never know where we are supposed to end up".

The Democratic Alliance said restitution was important to make amends for the forced removal of people from their land by the apartheid government.

"But at the same time, productive commercial farms must be maintained to sustain the agricultural economy and ensure that South Africa is never faced with the food deficits experienced in Zimbabwe".

To ensure this, the government had to maintain the trust and co-operation of existing farmers and harness their skills. But the new expropriation legislation had done exactly the opposite, it said.

The Pan Africanist Congress said there could be no genuine liberation and democracy without the just resolution of the land question. It lamented the fate of thousands who were still landless and were evicted from land daily.

"The land question cannot be ignored forever without making what is happening in Zimbabwe look like a nice afternoon picnic," the PAC warned. – Sapa.