WESTERN CAPE – The Western Cape provincial government has established a land reform advisory desk to help to speed up transformation in the province’s agricultural sector.
The tardiness around land reform has created uncertainty in the agricultural sector and has at times led to sporadic land occupations around the country and tension on farms.
In 1994, national government set a target of handing 30% of agricultural land to black recipients by 2014. In 2013 it announced that only 8% of claimed land had been handed back, although settlements had been finalised for a far larger portion of SA’s farmland.
Western Cape economic opportunities Member of Executive Council Alan Winde said on Monday that speeding up land reform was one of the provincial government’s foremost priorities.
“The land reform advisory desk will offer guidance to farmers, community organisations and residents. We are putting our full weight behind efforts to get viable projects going,” Winde said.
The desk would be located at Cape Agency for Sustainable Integrated Development in Rural Areas’ (Casidra’s) head office in Paarl, about 60km from Cape Town. Casidra is an implementing agency for the Western Cape department of agriculture.
Winde on Monday also welcomed the establishment of the national Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s district land reform committees.
The committees, which are convened and chaired by the national department, have started meeting regularly. There are six committees in total — one in each of the districts across the province. They consist of representatives from national and provincial government, organised agriculture and civil society.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Winde said the Western Cape department of agriculture is represented on all the committees.
“These committees will seek to identify land to meet the land reform goals set out in National Development Plan (NDP).
“The NDP has set a target of 20% transfer of agricultural land to previously disadvantaged South Africans by 2030, a goal which we are determined to contribute towards.
“The Western Cape government will continue to strengthen the support roles we play. One of the tools we are using is Casidra’s land reform advisory desk.
“The only way we will achieve the NDP targets is through a collaborative approach,” the MEC said.
In his state of the nation address in February, President Jacob Zuma said that land had become a critical factor in achieving redress for the wrongs of the past.
The second period for lodging land claims began last year. Zuma said more than 36 000 land claims had been lodged nationally. The cut-off date was 2019.
Zuma also said the process of setting up the office of the valuer-general was under way, which would be established in terms of the Property Valuation Act.
He said once implemented, the law would stop the reliance on the willing-buyer, willing-seller method in respect of land acquisition by the state.
In February Rural Development and Land Reform minister Gugile Nkwinti confirmed that the Regulation of Land Holdings Bill, which placed a maximum ceiling of 12 000 hectares on agricultural land ownership for all — both locals and foreigners — in SA, would be signed into law later this year.
– BD Live
