National African Farmers Union of South Africa

1. National African Farmers Union of South Africa The Pace of Land Reform in South Africa Presentation by Motsepe Matlala: President NAFU 20 October 2004

2. Observe protocols appropriate to the people present in the audience

3. Introduction Chairperson, I am sure that during the past three days you have had to listen to a lot of people who may be concerned about the pace and achievements of the Land Reform Programme in South Africa. I am also convinced that in most cases they have valid reasons to show their concern. In this regard we must never forget that during our struggle for many decades in the past, reclaiming our land was at the centre of our motivation. Today, it is the very poorest of our people who do not understand, or even benefit much directly from our new modern democratic society, who still feel that the struggle will only be over when they are back on their land or have been compensated for the losses they suffered many years ago. We must understand how they feel if we are to reflect effectively on the dynamics that surround the continued implementation of the various land reform programmes. On the other hand chairperson, in fairness we must also examine the environment within which the programme is being implemented. It is not a straightforward or easy task to accomplish I do not want to bore this committee with lots of statistics and case studies that are readily available in any case but instead take a view from two different perspectives to place the emotions and perceptions regarding the pace of the Land Reform programme into appropriate context Let us therefore chairperson, firstly look at the pace of land reform from the point of view of the poor and landless people of this country.

4. Clearly for these people the pace is too slow. Why is it too slow for them. It is not slow for them because they think that not enough is being done in terms of activity, it is slow for them because they continue to be hungry while they saw land reform as a mechanism that would eventually allow them to feed themselves. This expectation does not necessarily have to be right, but it is their expectation. Their expectation was in fact created by the concept that was popularly passed around during the planning and early stages of land reform, that land will be given back to the people and they will become prosperous. Even in those cases chairperson, where land has been returned, people remain dissatisfied because ultimately, land does not feed people automatically. Land has to be worked in an agriculturally viable and sustainable manner before a lasting effect is made on the food security of the people involved. Working the land effectively is not easy from a knowledge base perspective, and it is not easy from a financial perspective either. What we identify here in other words chairperson, is the fact that there are other very important issues that impact on the perception that the landless poor, or poor people with newly acquired land have regarding land reform. These issues have nothing to do with the primary process of land restitution or redistribution. Many of these issues relate to agricultural practice and because I represent those very people who are trying to make a success of farming, I would like to have a closer look at some of these.

5. Training. Agricultural training for black farmers must be focussed on providing competence in the production environment as well as creating a competency to understand and interact with the full agricultural value chain. Efficient production is only a small portion of the makeup of a successful farmer. Research and development. Research institutes spend a lot of time on enhancing the effectiveness of commercial farming and also indeed also focus on how to assist the very small farmer. The problem chairperson with teaching someone how to be a successful small farmer contributes more to keeping him a small farmer than it contributes to graduating him into a commercially viable larger operation. Research to assist new farmers to grow into commercially viable operators must be stepped up and such research delivered as part of the reform programme Information A significant challenge chairperson, is that when people speak of the upcoming farmers in South Africa, there is very little certainty of exactly what is meant by this. There is no structured approach to gathering information about small scale tillers of the land to define the impact that this invisible sector has on the food situation in the country at all. How can we expect to help these people if we do not know where they are, what and how much they produce and indeed how many mouths are dependent on their produce. It is critical that a concerted effort be made to ensure that appropriate geographical information be gathered regarding small scale farmers so that initiatives such as drought relief programmes can be effectively planned and executed. These people always receive help when it is too late already.

6. Land ownership patterns. In those cases where people who are not beneficiaries of restitution, and who are trying to acquire land on a commercial basis, they find that land is so expensive that they cannot even attempt to apply for funding. Access to financial support. For many of the beneficiaries of the land reform who need to acquire operational funding to initiate the production of food on their newly acquired land, access to funding is a nightmare of wading through unfamiliar procedures and regulations, liaising with high level professionals and long waiting periods. All of these elements add to the frustration and increases the perception that land reform is too slow. Infrastructure A lot of the black farmers who are currently trying to make a living out of the land are doing so in areas where the provision of electricity, water and transport does not come near to satisfying the demands of agricultural development. Without adequate water, electricity and transport, commercial farming is not very viable and it is especially in these areas where the threat of food insecurity remains critical. Communication infrastructure is perhaps one of the most neglected issues that needs to be attended to because without adequate and up to date information it is extremely difficult for farmers to exploit available markets and get the best benefit from supplies

7. Criminal violence in rural areas It is unfortunately so chairperson, that land beneficiaries almost immediately become the targets for a criminal element that prey on their assets and intimidate them on their properties. Black Economic Empowerment in the full agricultural value chain New farmers find it very difficult to gain competitive benefit from the agricultural value chain. Until Chairperson, participation of black business in the full ambit of the agricultural value chain is not accelerated it will remain difficult for land beneficiaries to achieve agricultural success. Opponents of reform Sadly chairperson, there remain those in this country who do not care to see land beneficiaries making a success on their new land. This opposition takes many forms from unprofessional service in matters such as soil sampling, public criticism designed to create distrust of these new farmers to direct acts of sabotage.

8. I believe chairperson, that I have given sufficient examples of issues that that leave the poor people with the perception that there is something dramatically wrong with the land reform programme. Ultimately they express their perception in the form of dissatisfaction regarding the pace of the programme. It is however not that things are not happening fast enough. I believe that it is the other activities that should be in place to support the programme that are either not in place or are indeed not being implemented in close enough collaboration with the land reform programme. A very sad aspect of the lack of coordinated support for the beneficiaries of land is that their inability to manage their land effectively, has led to serious divisions within some of the affected communities that were not there before. These divisions threaten the social fabric of the communities concerned, and it is my fear that if appropriate assistance is not provided to facilitate these differences, that we have put them backwards instead of forwards.

9. Please allow me now chairperson, to view the pace of land reform in the context of the environment within which the Department of Land Affairs has to operate. I most certainly believe that if we examine the constraints faced by the department on a daily basis, that indeed the progress has been very good. Let us look at some of the more significant constraints that the department does face. National Coordination of Transformation and Reform There are many initiative that are focused on the transformation of economic sectors, industries and social activities. All of these initiatives are interlinked to some degree, and most of them somehow impact on the issue of land reform or alternatively are impacted on by land reform. The burden placed on the department to ensure that all the interdependencies at play are appropriately addressed is overwhelming. This obviously results in significant delays and valuable time has to be spent on extensive liaison activities. Funds Without a specific national authority mandated with coordination of all transformation initiatives, I believe that land reform is not competing for funding at the right priority level.

10. Opponents of Reform The financial capacity of the opponents of reform enable them to tie the department of Land Affairs down in frivolous legal confrontations that not only slow the pace of the programme down but indeed also drain it of funding as well as human resources. Liaison with Beneficiary Communities The department of Land Affairs repeatedly finds that its efforts to liaise with beneficiary communities are frustrated or extended by lack of consensus within the communities themselves. This lack of consensus does not necessarily constitute infighting, but more often than not originates from insufficient broad understanding to the lowest level of what the implications of receiving restituted land entails. There remains an expectation amongst many people that on receiving the land that their lives will change dramatically for the better. This change will obviously happen over a long period of time and there is a lot of hard work that must be done to achieve this.

11. Conclusion We do not believe chairperson, that all the role players that need to be involved in the issue of Land Reform have been comprehensively drawn into a collaborative mechanism where a unified effort can be made to address the challenges that are faced. The department of Land Affairs cannot do this job alone. This job requires that all government structures, right down to municipal level, be mobilised to ensure that they make the required contribution to the process. Corporate South Africa, especially those that depend directly on land and agricultural stability, such as the food retail chains, those who manufacture products that derive from agricultural activity and many more, must be mobilised to identify the contribution they need to make and to get involved in the process of creating stability and sustainability in the sector that provides them with their revenue opportunities. I do also believe sincerely that despite the corrective initiatives that can be applied to ensure smoother functioning and acceleration of the programme, that Minister Didiza and her team at the department of Land Affairs must be congratulated for a sterling job that they are doing under extremely trying and often confrontational circumstances.

12. Thank You