11 February 1999

Our most significant achievement to-date has in fact been the design and implementation of a comprehensive land reform programme, from scratch, and on a modest budget.

Land reform is a new programme that began when this government took office in May 1994. While policy was being developed, a pilot programme was initiated in all 9 provinces. These pilots have subsequently been integrated into the Department's programme.

Since the start of the programme 22 laws, and amendments, have been enacted to establish the legislative framework for land reform; capacity developed nationally and offices established in all nine provinces for the implementation of the programme.

Since 1994 53 675 families (approximately 354 225 people) have gained access to 654 998 hectares of land in the Redistribution, Restitution and Tenure Reform programmes.

While delivery was initially slow, as systems and personnel were being put in place, it is increasing exponentially and land reform is taking place on a significant scale. For example, in 1995 5 projects were approved, and in 1998 the number approved was 178. Project lead times have dropped from 1 year to 5 months and expenditure has increased 120% in 4 years.

The Department currently has 375 redistribubon projects (including labour tenants) at implementation stage (with many more being investigated), 367 restitution cases in negotiations, 31 settled and 62 before the Land Claims Court and upgrading of tenure projects affecting thousands of people are in process.

A monitoring and evaluation system is in place which is measuring not just statistics, but the impact of land reform on the quality of life of beneficiaries. This, and the experience of implementors on the ground, is providing very useful indicators of successes, shortcomings and failures. The lessons learnt are being applied to ensure that land reform is sustainable and delivers real and lasting benefits to beneficiaries.

One of the things we have is learnt that certain project types are unsustainable, and unlikely to bring genuine benefits to land reform beneficiaries. For example, we have seen that large group ownership or production projects which involve a passive share holding by beneficiaries often do not meet the basic need for land reform projects to:

• provide landless people with land to live on
• provide landless people with land for agricultural use (grazing and/or cultivation)
• provide unemployed people with job opportunities
• materially improve the quality of life of the beneficiaries

No single project can meet all of these criteria, but some large group-based projects do not meet any of them in a satisfactory manner and we are considering discontinuing them.

While we are supporting a rapidly increasing number of smaller projects, this does not mean that we are discontinuing all "large" projects. We are continuing and undertaking some very significant large projects, where workers in an agricultural enterprise acquire ownership of the enterprise, or an equity share in it. Well-known examples are the Inala Farms in Mpumalanga, and the Magwa and Majola Tea Estates in the Eastern Cape. There are many equity schemes involving partnership between the workers and the current owners, and sometimes outside investors.

The size of a project is not the critical factor - rather, it is the ability of the project to provide real benefits to the participants. The evidence demonstrates that a key element of this is active participation by the beneficiaries.

Land reform, as a developmental programme, is a long term programme for this country. There is no quick-fix solution, and we have achieved remarkable progress in 5 years. Indeed, South Africa's land reform programme is increasingly drawing international attention, because we have been able to achieve so much in such a varied, innovative and comprehensive way, and in such a short space of time.

Land reform is not just about the transfer of hectares of land. It is also about securing the tenure rights of millions of people who are living with insecurity and consequently are unable to develop and invest in improving their homes.

It is in this area - of tenure reform - that land reform is having the most significant impact on people's lives.

A solid foundation of rights in land has been laid in the last 5 years, for people who were dispossessed of land as a result of racial discrimination, or whose insecure tenure leaves them vulnerable to arbitrary or unfair eviction.

This is a major achievement -- often ignored as a result of a narrow focus on land transfers alone - and it is leading to a fundamental transformation of relations on the land.

The Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act (1966) provides secure tenure to one of the most vulnerable rural groups - people who are employed on the basis that their main remuneration is the right to occupy and farm a piece of land. The unfair or unlawful eviction of labour tenants has virtually been halted. The Department has 22 labour tenant cases involving 544 households (approximately 3 373 people) and 9 082 hectares of land.

The Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (1996) which secures the position of people with "informal" land rights, mainly in the former "homeland" areas, while more comprehensive legislation is being prepared. The Act ensures that holders of informal land rights are recognised as stakeholders in land transactions and development projects on land they occupy. We hope that more comprehensive tenure legislation dealing with these areas will be submitted to Parliament during 1999.

In the meantime work in this area is underway, for example, in Thaba Nchu in the Free State where 40 000 people are in the process of having their tenure upgraded to full ownership rights.

The Extension of Security of Tenure Act (1997) gives over 6 million people, who live on land which is not their own, a secure legal right to live on and use that land. It protects occupiers against unfair or arbitrary evictions but provides for legal evictions under certain circumstances, in the process applying human rights standards to the relationship between owner and occupier.

As a result of the legislation and the work done to inform people of their new rights, the situation on the land concerned has largely been stabilised, and there is now a fair legal framework for dealing with threatened evictions. In many cases where evictions have been threatened, they have been averted through successful negotiations, and in many cases long-term solutions have been found. In some cases where evictions have occurred, they have gone to court: and have been overturned.

The Transformatlon of Certain Rural Areas Act (1998) will have the effect of transferring 1.2 million hectares of state land to 70 000 people living in 23 former 'coloured' reserves.

A national Land Rights Monitoring System has been developed and will continue to determine the impact of legislation, and related support systems, on the tenure security of farm workers and labour tenants.

One of the reconstruction and development objectives of land reform is to play a role in reconciliation and nation building.

The restitution programme specifically is achieving just that, for the nearly 12 000 families who have had land restored or financial compensation paid to them - enabling them to put the past behind them.

This is the year of delivery in restitution.

The closing of lodgement of claims has brought finality to the total number of claims - which stands at 63 455 claims. Approximately 80% of these are urban claims, the majority of which are in all likelihood for financial compensation. Our Commissioners are prioritising financial compensation cases which can be cleared relatively quickly, and the straightforward restoration cases which are mostly rural and concern large numbers of people.

The review and the integration of the Commission into the Department of Land Affairs is already having the desired effect (legislation enabling this is currently being discussed by the portfolio committee). Last week 3 cases in the Western Cape were settled and 1 in the Northern Province. This week 4 Malmesbury cases have been settled with a group of another 40 Malmesbury claims being finalised as we speak. On Friday the DG signed agreement on the Khono case in the Northern Cape which, at the time of their removal, affected 30 000 people. The Kalahari San claim will be finalised soon - an agreement is to be signed on 21 March.

This pace will not only continue, but will increase.

It is not just in restitution that the foundation for long lasting reconciliation is being laid . In all the provinces there are increasing examples of gestures of reconciliation being made between people, within the environment created by land reform. For example:

• The recently high profile Roger Roman case in Hartebeespoort;
• The Bothaville case in the Free State where maize farmers have contributed to the purchase of land for off-site housing for 1000 farm workers and their families.

In this province, two employers have sold, at below market value, existing worker housing to 66 families.

One of the Key Performance Indicators of the programme is that it should alleviate poverty and target women and the disadvantaged.

The programme is only accessible to people who earn less than R1 500 per month. Our research shows that the average land reform beneficiary earns less than R470 per month, with 11.5% of the beneficiary households being headed by women (this does not include women who are part of the remaining beneficiary households).

As most projects involve some form of agricultural production or entrepreneurial activity, the programme is providing alternative sources oI income and food for beneficiaries.

A comprehensive Quality of Life system, implemented in partnership with universities and NGOs, is in place and monitoring quality of life indlicators. While it is too early to make a meaningful assessment, early indications are that there is a high level of personal satisfaction, with projects contributing to household incomes and broadening the economic base.

A full support programme is in place to ensure that the quality of life of beneficiaries does in fact improve. This support programme helps beneficiaries cover additional costs such as infrastructure development, agricultural production loans, extension services and management training.

A number of land reform projects are paving the way for the development of black farmers: Fruit producers at Inala Farms (Mpumalanga), White Hall (Western Cape) and the Apple Project (Free State); Cotton producers at Settlers (Northern Province); Wine farmers at Fair Valley, Freedom Road and Nuwe Begin (Western Cape); and Dried fruit packers and exporters at Northridge Packing (Western Cape).

Together with new products from the Land Bank, and the space opening up with the deregulation of agricultural marketing, black farmers are starting to make their presence felt in the sector.

Of course, land reform is not providing for all these initiatives, a lot is happening without government intervention, but has been enabled through the environment we have created.

South Africa is a net agricultural exporter and agricultural exports now contribute over 10% of our foreign exchange earnings. Our policies must, therefore, aim at promoting the international competitiveness of our farmers and the most important way we can do this is by negotiating reduction in trade barriers. We can do this globally, through our new membership of the Cairns Group of countries seeking to remove protectionist pressures, and through bilateral negotiations with major trading partners.

The most important agricultural export market for South Africa remains the European Union; and our export products to the European Union represent some of the most labour-intensive sub sectors with relatively high levels of value-added through processing and packaging here in South Africa.

We have negotiated for 74% of our exports to be included in the Free Trade Agreement and for major reductions in tariffs which will significantly increase our price competitiveness.

In the short term (within three years of the agreement coming into force), the dairy industry could benefit by some R200 million in tariffs cost reduction with fresh and canned fruit each savings some R100 million. Over the longer term (10years that is) the fresh fruit industry could save some R1 billion, with wine, spirits and cut flowers also projected to a receive substantial boost.

But the real benefit to our agriculture is likely to come from the confidence of a secure trading relationship. We are already seeing new investment and competition in export agriculture as a result.

During the last three years, agriculture has moved rapidly from a highly regulated industry, dependent on the state for a number of subsidy and support measures, to one which operates on a free market basis. Within the year stipulated by the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, 1996, all the control boards had closed down and had been replaced by voluntary Trusts providing for information and market requirements needed by the commodities. For example, the wheat, maize and oilseed industries established South African Grain information Services, a section 21 company.

We have as a result, a policy environment which provides strong incentives to farmers and from established commercial farmers there has been a very encouraging response.

One of the biggest challenges remains the inequalities in land ownership and the legacy of lack of opportunity for black farmers to establish themselves in the sector. Policy on Agricultural reform presents the need to increase the number of new small, small scale and medium scale farmers as one of three objectives.

Some progress has been made in providing supportto resource poor farmers and land reform beneficiaries through:

• the transformation of rural financial services through new credit products aimed at first time borrowers with limited collateral and through special mortgage finance options
• the reorientation of the agricultural research system to meet technology needs of smaller farmers
• the introduction of pilot schemes to reform extension services to their accountability to farmers.

We inherited a deeply polarised agriculture with marketing and services entirely geared to white farmers. Our task is to integrate the sector. Such integration is happening on a number of different fronts as we develop collaboration arrangements with commodity groups and input suppliers to provide assistance to new farmers. The new industry trusts, in particular, have been mandated to pay attention to issues facing small and emerging farmers.

For example: the cotton industry which has set an objective that 30% of domestic cotton crop should be derived from emerging farmers by the year 2005, and has put in place programmes to achieve this objective (one example of this is a land reform project in the Northern Province called Settlers, which is being supported by Lonro).

Widespread rural poverty remains a major challenge for South Africa and an increase in the production of food for own consumption, and for sale, is an essential component of improving rural incomes and welfare.

On Monday we are launching a Land Care project in Mpumalanga, which is one project in our national Land Care programme aimed at providing support for local communities which are prepared to take initiatives in making better use of the agricultural natural resources in their vicinity There is a threefold objective:

• to increase, on a sustainable basis, the productivity of crop and rangeland resources to improve rural livelihoods
• to create employment using labour-intensive methods in rehabilitation work; and
• to protect the natural environment.

The Land Care programme - started recently, with limited money from the Poverty Relief Fund - already has 16 projects which will create 3583 jobs and benefit nearly 2000 people.

I have briefly outlined our achievernents, initiative and objectives. The discussion document - Agricultural Policy in South Africa - brings all of these together. I am satisfied that, for the first time in South Africa, we have a common policy for Agriculture that is supported by all the provinces, the industry and unions, NGOs and the research community.

This policy framework will provide coherence to the whole sector which is slowly starting to work as one. It also shows confidence in the future and provides farmers and agricultural businesses with the clarity and certainty that it requires.