'Black farmers need support'
2004-02-25 15:23
Pretoria - "Food production is not a holy cow for white farmers, those who can produce must be given the chance to do so," chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya said in Pretoria on Wednesday.
"In the past white Afrikaner farmers received lots of subsidies by the government of the time but no such subsidies have been given since 1994," he said shortly before a media tour of land reform projects in Mpumalanga.
"The black farmers who are now being given land through redistribution programmes need that support. We want to create and environment where people have equal access."
This year's national budget allocated R750m in support projects to be provided to Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) farmers with R296m in grants already provided.
Gwanya said Hansard's parliamentary records referring back to the 1913 and 1936 land acts stated that white farmers said they could not compete with the black farmers effectively when it came to production levels and farming techniques.
"That was why the 1948 government created policies to deal with this and as a result forced black farmers off their land. This carried on until the 1960's, making (it) impossible for black farmers to compete effectively," he said explaining that was why the present government had to support black farmers - "to rectify the balance".
Land Affairs director general Gillingwe Mayende said despite accusations in a recent book that there were no successful land redistribution projects, he could point out a few.
He mentioned that the Zebediela citrus farm in Limpopo last year boasted a 100% export rate for the first time in four years.
He said the farm collapsed during the former government's homeland subdivision programme, but now through partnerships was back on its feet.
"The Masina Agricultural trust found on the Onbekend and Droogvlei farms near Carolina, Mpumalanga, is now home to the Masina family who have started beef farming and dry crop production on their 91 hectares of land. The family has 50 cattle and a tractor which they bought with the balance of a R218 000 grant."
He said Land Affairs also supported gender equality and that LRAD had settled a 436ha farm near Carolina with 19 beneficiaries - 10 of whom women.
"Although financial constraints threatened this community's success, they resolved to use their own implements to ensure that the land does not remain fallow.
"They are using the farm for crop and bean production as well as beef production on a small scale," he said.
Mayende said partnerships between claimants and private organisations needed to be developed in order to help LRAD farmers succeed.
"More than 700 000 households have benefited from the land reform programme in the past 10 years and we are moving steadily towards our three million target," he said.
- SAPA