Agri SA to list who owns every farm

AGRI SA says it has initiated a national project to document all agricultural land ownership to gather up-to- date data on levels of land distribution and its effects on black empowerment.ugg 5815
Addressing a media briefing after the organisation’s strategic committees’ discussions in Centurion, south of Pretoria, yesterday, Africa relations chairman Theo de Jager said neither the government nor the farming community had any idea who owned which land and where.

There has been no accurate government data since 1994 on how much land was in the hands of whites, or owned by the state, or bought or given to blacks. Some emerging black farmers were buying land directly from the market.

"The only way to find out is to physically go from farm to farm to document the ownership so we could also be sure of how many beneficiaries of land programmes are out there," he said.

The data would be likely to assist the government, he said, which is in the process of introducing a new land affairs bill. ugg 5825

The industry has been crippled by lack of investment in farm infrastructure due to fears that the bill will encourage expropriation without compensation. Mr de Jager said Agri SA was eager to have the bill released for public comment, as the suspense was fuelling speculation and creating uncertainty .

"The industry needs to know where the country’s policy takes us so that the farming environment could stabilise and farmers begin to invest in the farms such as the plantation of new orchards, et cetera."

He said the body appreciated the growing number of emerging black farmers who were joining various Agri SA-affiliated structures. ugg 5803

These were often black farmers who took calculated risks by buying land and who were collaborating with their white peers in farming projects, rather than waiting for the government to give them land.

Agri SA president Johannes M?ller said other topics discussed were about invitations from neighbouring states for South African farmers to lease land and start farming to improve their capacity.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was the first country to extend an open invitation a few years ago and since then at least 22 African countries have done the same.ugg 5854

Due to its proximity, Mozambique had also attracted at least 800 farmers who had signed deals to expand their operations to that country, he said.

Mr de Jager said it was in SA’s interests to share as much knowledge with its neighbours, because country borders in the Southern African Development Community were becoming much more fluid .

"We have to work closely to build capacity and proactively work at preventing the spread of disease, particularly the ones carried across the borders by animals, such as foot and mouth."
The agricultural body also expressed concern about a proposed water regime, saying it would be engaging with the government to discuss water rights which affected farmers.ugg 5819