9 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 17ThefinalreportbytheExpertAdvisory
Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture,
which was recently published for
public comment and was intended to
guide the future dialogue around land
reform in South Africa, has not been
met with overwhelming support from
organisations representing commercial
farmers and agribusinesses.
Dan Kriek, one of the members of
the advisory panel and president of
Agri SA, and fellow panel member
Nick Serfontein, a commercial farmer
and chairperson of the Sernick Group,
published an alternative report on the
same day as the panel’s report was
published. Their report explained in
detail the aspects of the panel report
they supported, and those on which
they failed to reach agreement.
One of the main points of contention
has been the panel’s support to amend
Section 25 of the Constitution to allow
for expropriation without compensation.Thepanelreportproposedthat
the Expropriation Bill of 2019 be
finalised, and that expropriation
without compensation be “understood
[as] one of several targeted land
acquisition strategies”. It proposed
that zero compensation could be
applied in respect of expropriation
of land that, among others, had been
abandoned, was hopelessly indebted,
and was purely held for speculative
purposes, as well as land unutilised
and held by state entities, land
obtained through criminal activity,
land already occupied and used by
labour tenants and former labour
tenants, informal settlement areas,
inner city buildings with absentee
landlords, and farm equity schemes.
Other controversial proposals
included the suggestion that a
Land Tax Inquiry be appointed to
consider national policy aimed at
imposing rates on agricultural land“todisincentivise the retention of
unproductive landholdings”.
“The tax system must be premised
on the recognition that land must serve
a social function,” the report said.
The panel also suggested that an
in-depth assessment be conducted
into the application of land ceilings.
“Consideration should be given to
the imposition of land ceilings to limit
the total area of land that any one
may own, so as to limit and reverse
the trend towards concentration of
land ownership,” the report said.
Dr John Purchase, CEO of Agbiz,
said that while Agbiz did not agree
with certain recommendations,
including the amendment of the
Constitution, robust discussion
had characterised the deliberations
of the panel. “Agbiz believes
the report takes the debate on
sustainable land reform forward,”
he said. – Denene ErasmusLandRefoRmLand panel report ‘takes discussion forward’
Asbeneficiariessupposedto
benefitfroma government
dairyprojectnearVredein
theFreeStatetestifiedthat
theyfearedfortheirlives,
otherroleplayershighlighted
howtheprojecthadbeen
hijackedthroughstatecapture.
It hasbeenclaimedthatthe
project,knownastheVrede
Dairyproject,wasa cash
cowfortheGuptafamily.
Lastmonth,theCommission
ofInquiryintoAllegationsof
StateCapture,ledbyDeputy
ChiefJusticeRaymondZondo,
heardtestimonyfrommultiple
participantsaboutallegations
ofstatecapturelinkedtothe
VredeDairyproject,which
waslaunchedin2012.
DevelopingfarmerEphraim
Dhlaminiconfirmedto
Zondothathehadreceived
deaththreats,whichhehad
reportedtotheHawks.
LegaLVrede Dairy project: ‘Legislature failed residents’
“If in Vrede, you have spoken
[about former MEC for agriculture
in the Free State] Mosebenzi
Zwane, you won’t sleep in your
house; you’ll have to run away
because they will chase after you
or threaten to kill you,” he said.
Dhlamini claimed that some
had even been murdered as
a result of the controversy
surrounding the matter, and
referred to the 2013 death of a
provincial agriculture department
auditor, Moses Tshake.
Roy Jankielsohn, leader
of the DA in the Free State
Legislature, told the commission
that the project was a classic
example of how legislature
and its committees had failed
the people of the Free State
by not interrogating the
issue right from the start.
He decried alleged manoeuvres
by committee chairpersons to
block attempts by oppositionparties to probe irregularities that
became evident in the project.
He also said that role players,
such as former Premier Ace
Magashule, Zwane, and other
former MECs including Mamiki
Qabathe, Olly Mlamlele and
Elzabe Rockman, had been
“pertinently” aware of the
problems relating to the project.
Ryan Brunette, research
associate and political
scientist at the Public Affairs
Research Institute, said public
administration was about checks
and balances, and that processes
needed to be separated in such
a way that no single person
could control their outcome.
“Politicians are using their
powers of appointment ... to
violate this principle, bridging
segregations of duties with
their personal connections,
and undercutting checks and
balances,” he said. – Sabrina Dean