Agri SA: Old, new farmers must co-operate
2012-06-08 14:21
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2012-06-07 08:45
The ANC will not engage with its youth wing over the issue of land reform, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday. He was speaking ahead of a meeting between the ANC and South African farmers in Johannesburg. WATCH
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Johannesburg - A symbiotic relationship between established and new commercial farmers and small-scale farmers was essential for a successful land reform model, Agri SA president Johannes Möller said on Thursday.
He was speaking at a meeting of the World Farmers' Organisation in Rome.
The development of such a relationship, being both a mentorship and business, would guarantee sustainable food production and optimal resource utilisation.
An expectation existed of African countries to substantially increase local and international food production as the world population grew, said Möller.
ANCYL: Change Constitution
"The proven expertise and the critical mass of a large number of established commercial farmers are an indispensable asset for South Africa," he said.
This could enhance new entrant success rates within the agriculture sector and, to a limited extent, elsewhere in Africa.
On Tuesday, ANC Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola said the Constitution had to be changed to allow the expropriation of land without compensation.
"All our issues are locked there in section 25 of the Constitution," Lamola said in Pretoria.
The ANCYL said a "minister of land expropriation without compensation" should be appointed.
Section 25 of the Constitution refers to property rights and sets out conditions for the expropriation of land with compensation.
Warning of land invasions
Lamola said the ANC should not apologise for changing the Constitution - which would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
"The ANC must amend section 25 without apologising to any investor or anybody... The ANC must amend its own Constitution when it deems necessary," he said.
If white South Africans did not hand land over to poor blacks, there could be land invasions like those that took place in Zimbabwe, he warned.
AfriForum Youth laid a charge of intimidation against Lamola on Wednesday following his comments.
The ANC would not talk to the ANCYL over the issue of land reform, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday.
- SAPA
