National African Farmers Union of South Africa

1. National African Farmers Union of South Africa Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill Presented by Motsepe Matlala: Deputy President NAFU

2. Presentation Agenda Introduction Why Expropriation Abilities of Black Farmers Powers of the Minister Willingness of White Farmer Unions to Participate Conclusion

3. Introduction In South Africa we are indeed in a critical phase in the process of creating a new future for all our people. We are faced with resolving issues that are fundamental prerequisites for achieving a sustainable and equitable socio economic solution for this country. At the forefront of this process is the agricultural sector with the many dynamics that make ultimate achievement of stability in this sector more complex than has been the case with other sectors of the economy. We must learn from the many examples that come to us from the rest of Africa where it is plainly evident that until agricultural stability is achieved in a country that no last social stability is possible. We have already learnt two very important lessons. The first is that land reform will not be painless and the second is that if land reform is not implemented robustly that the frustrations experienced by those who legitimately expect to benefit from land reform will become unmanageable. Why do organisations like the TAU seem hell-bent on creating a situation where we will inevitably repeat the mistakes of our neighbours. Accelerated land restitution must be promoted if we are to extricate this country from the very same problems of poverty and hunger that continues to plague the rest of the continent

4. Why is Expropriation Required It is only the most naïve of those amongst us who can truly believe that land restitution can happen totally on a basis of agreement. No society in the world is made up only of reasonable people. It is the mandate of all governments to ensure through transparent and equitable processes that reasonableness prevails in matters of national importance. When the land of Black people was appropriated without fair compensation to allow previous governments to develop a strong agricultural sector, a warped perception of public interest was held forth as motivation for the expropriations despite the creation of far reaching social dissatisfaction When the previous government later sought to strengthen their agricultural sector even further by consolidating the borders of the ‘Homelands’ and the farms of white farmers were appropriated (with fair compensation), ‘public interest’ once again triumphed as the motivation despite the fact that many White farmers were deeply dissatisfied with the process

5. Why is Expropriation Required Today we are faced with a weakening agricultural sector as a result of the disproportionate ownership of agricultural land and clearly intervention from the government in the form of agricultural and land reform must continue and indeed be accelerated. The only difference that exists in the current land reform programme from past programmes, is that the definition of public interest has been corrected to include the interests of all the people of the country. It is of critical interest to the citizens of this country that land restitution, as the building block for a stable agricultural sector be taken to it full conclusion in the most effective way available. NAFU believes that expropriation is required for those land restitution cases where continued lack of agreement develops into a situation where the ultimate achievement of the fundamental objectives of land reform is jeopardized Clearly expropriation can not be used as a tool for circumventing the laws of this country, or indeed attempt to give the Minister the powers to ride roughshod over the opponents of the government. It is in fact the implementation of a mechanism that will ensure that the process of land restitution is optimised

6. Abilities of Black Farmers A popular refrain of the opponents of the land restitution programme is that land given to Black farmers go to waste and that Black farmers can not farm this land effectively. Apart from real examples where Black farmers have achieved noteworthy succeses it is also true that thousands of White farmers who went bankrupt will attest that an ability to farm is only one of many factors that contribute to agricultural succes. Evidence abounds that it is extremely difficult for for any farmer, Black or White to achieve commercial viability if the attitude of other farmers, suppliers or market mechanisms are hostile. If the attitude of White farmer organisations who exert massive influence within commodity groupings, supply chains and markets remain negative and unsupportive of Black land owner farmers, then agricultural stability in this country is doomed to accelerated decline Black farmers do have the ability to contribute significantly to agricultural growth and food security in South Africa if the right environment is created. The Restitution of Land Rights Bill aims to make a very specific contribution to creating this required environment by optimising the process of making land available to emerging Black farmers.

7. Powers of the Minister NAFU continues to search for any substance in the arguments raised by the opponents of the proposed amendment. There certainly is no credible legal argument in favour of preventing the amendment. It seems that the only consistent narrative emanating from organisations such as Agri-SA and the TAU is that the Minister will have too many powers. These are not prepared to publically state that they are completely in favour of land restitution and their negative attitude is aptly demonstrated by their acceptance that the Minister will misuse the powers conferred by the proposed amendment. It is also significant that those who contend that the Minister’s powers will be too far reaching, only bring lists of what they regard as possible problems to the debate. They do not offer what they regard as alternative solutions to expediting the land reform process. This lack of contributory participation reinforces the perception that they are primarily engaged in various forms of obstructing the process. Without measures that make expropriation possible, the strategies designed to make the government fail with land restitution can not be effectively combated

8. Willingness of White Farmers to Participate It is very evident from the dialogue that has been initiated during the past six months by not only individual White farmers, but indeed more than one commodity association with NAFU, that there is a growing sentiment amongst White farmers that they are not convinced of the intentions of the traditional White farmers organisations A central theme to the dialogue has been that within these organisations political posturing is detracting from their ability to fully comprehend the critical importance for collaborative participation in the programmes which have been initiated by the government. We do not want to intimate that all the White farmers who are currently in dialogue with NAFU fully support all the actions of government, but certainly that all of them are concerned with making a positive contribution to finding sustainable solutions. They do believe that their representative organisations are involved in various forms of obstructive behaviour NAFU believes that expropriation powers vested in the Minister is the only effective way to counter destructive practices by the opponents of land reform who have openly admitted their intention to use lengthy and protracted court actions to minimise governments chances of successfully concluding land restitution

9. Conclusion NAFU would like in conclusion to urge those who continue to oppose government’s efforts to transform, stabilize and grow the South African agricultural sector, with shallow political posturing to come to their senses and contribute to finding sustainable solutions that will unite farmers, regardless of their political affiliations, into a sector of the South African economy that will be characterized by a pride that binds working farmers throughout the world We are witnessing on our very doorstep the results of unsuccessful land reform. The impact of not getting it right because we are hesitant to take decisive action and be influenced by those that make much noise but no positive contribution will be devastating not only on the agricultural sector but on the broader economy of this country. In this regard NAFU reiterates its support for implementation of the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill as an effective means to ensure that the land reform process so critical to the future of this country does not get bogged down in a political tennis match

10. Thank You