Afasa warns land reform failures are setting black farmers up to fail
Afasa says a lack of title deeds and government support is undermining land restitution and leaving black farmers vulnerable to eviction.
The African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (Afasa) believes that the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development is hindering the land restitution process by failing to provide adequate support to black farmers. Many of the farmers who have received land as part of restitution programs have not been given title deeds promised to them, which means they cannot use the land as collateral for bank loans. Consequently, Afasa argues that these farmers are being set up for failure.
Additionally, Afasa claims that some black farmers have been evicted from their farms without their knowledge or consent, and in some instances, the land has been leased to others. One example is Zandfontein Farm in Moqhaka local municipality, Free State, which faced a lease advertisement after Afasa released a statement expressing its intention to take legal action.
Afasa's land reform committee head, Piet Mothepu, welcomed the move and expressed readiness to collaborate with the government and all stakeholders to resolve the issue.
Mothepu highlighted that the government's practice of leasing out farms to attract investors and subsequently evicting the owners has been a long-standing problem. The affected provinces include the Free State and Eastern Cape. In response to these incidents, Afasa intends to take urgent legal action in the Free State and Eastern Cape to prevent the department from advertising, reallocating, or disposing of farms allocated to, occupied by, or legitimately claimed by Afasa members without following proper procedures.
The majority of affected farmers have 30-year leases, and in some cases, once the lease expires, they are offered the option to purchase the land. However, the lack of government support appears to be the biggest challenge in the land restitution program. Afasa asserts that rural vulnerable farmers need support when receiving land, as the government-appointed "mentors" often end up taking everything from the land occupiers and leaving them with nothing.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
