'SA won't be a second Zim'
2003-08-18 08:53
Marietie Louw
Pretoria - South Africa will never follow the same route on land reform as Zimbabwe, said Nana Zenani, spokesperson for minister of agriculture and land affairs Thoko Didiza.
The statement follows a warning by chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya that white farmers must change their attitude regarding land reform to "prevent a second Zimbabwe".
Zenani says Gwanya "should never have said anything like that".
Agricultural organisations and political parties said on Sunday that Gwanya's statement had been "irresponsible" and that "he didn't know what he was talking about".
Japie Grobler, the president of AgriSA, said the statement sounded like something someone had said under political pressure. "It's a very dangerous and ill-considered statement."
Andries Botha, DA spokesperson on agriculture and land affairs, said before farmers were removed from their land, "we will remove Tozi Gwanya".
Gwanya accused white farmers in Zimbabwe of that country's land reform problems. He said in Johannesburg: "They had the wrong attitude regarding land reform for the past 20 years. Now they want to talk, but it's too late. We can prevent a similar situation from happening if farmers start to co-operate."
Gwanya said that land prices made reform impossible. Grobler says land prices are reasonable. "Land prices in South Africa decreased by about 40% the past 10 years and are market-related. It is very important that land reform succeeds in South Africa, because otherwise it won't be dangerous for only farmers, but also for the economy."
- Beeld