Mashatile concedes slow progress has been made on land reform

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has conceded that the process of land reform has been slow in the past few years, but government is committed to tackling the matter.

Work on land restitution and land redistribution has somewhat progressed in recent times as the Expropriation Bill is currently being processed by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

The Expropriation Bill, which was initially rejected in 2021, is now out for public comment once again.

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This comes after the National Assembly gave the proposed legislation the greenlight last September.

If passed by the NCOP, the bill will be sent on to President Cyril Ramaphosa for enactment.

The draft law in its current form allows the expropriation of land only for public purposes and in the interest of the public as per Section 25 of the Constitution.

Policy intervention

Answering questions from MPs in the National Assembly on Thursday, Mashatile said government was “duty-bound” to reverse the “injustices” caused by the Natives Land Act of 1913.

“Land reform remains one of our foremost policy intervention in realising our social transformation agenda.

“Equally, embarking on land reform is to ensure economic growth and inclusion in all sectors of the economy particularly the entire agricultural and agro-processing value chain, thus, sustainable food security,” he said.

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Mashatile acknowledged that the process has been slow although government has made several interventions including the 700 000 hectors of state land that was made available.

“A total of 659 000 hectors were considered and approved for allocation which translate to about 1 459 farms,” the deputy president said.

“As government, we continue to provide support to beneficiaries of land redistribution through financing, training, market access, irrigation and the provision of seeds, fertilisers and equipment, all of which contribute to sustainability, particularly of emerging agricultural enterprises.”

Watch the Q&A session here:

‘Use land productively’

The deputy president said the land reform programmes required participation from beneficiaries make in order for land reform to prosper going forward.

“In other words, we would like the recipients not to be passive when they get assistance from government to come with initiatives themselves of how they utilise the land to be able to ensure successful production.

“There are many ways in which government can support these beneficiaries as I have said earlier, particularly small-scale farmers where they have decided that they will use their land for farming… we will be able to support them things machinery and various skills.”

He indicated that government was against dictating beneficiaries on how they use their land, but wanted them to do so productively.

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“There have been complaints previously that some recipients of land redistribution are not using the land productively and in many instances you would find a lot of land lying fallow.”

Mashatile also commented on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on South Africa.

“It is important that we must help beneficiaries of land reform to become productive with the land that they have to cushion them from trying to get foreign goods, particularly food. If they can use the land productively, they can to produce food for themselves.

“Obviously if they become real farmers and we support them, they can produce food for all of us because food security is very important then we probably worry less about what is happening in the world with wars because we can sustain ourselves.”

Read the Expropriation Bill below:

Land Expropriation Bill by Molefe Seeletsa on Scribd

Housing, corruption concerns

Asked how land reform would address the country’s housing crisis while preserving food security, Mashatile said government’s main priority was giving back

“We have always been convinced that the struggle of our country has always been the struggle for land that was taken away and we must not deviate from that. Yes, housing is very important particularly urban houses, but we must continue with the programme to give back people their land.”

The deputy president further agreed that corruption was a threat to the land reform and redistribution process.

“Where there is corruption we need to intervene decisively because the programme of giving people land is that it really benefits them.”

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