As KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Ad Hoc Committee on Land Reform begins its work this weekend, the central debate will no doubt be whether or not the ANC-led administration will acknowledge that it is not the legal frame work for land reform that is the problem – but rather the failure of those Departments entrusted to execute the existing laws and our constitutional mandate.
The committee is due to hold its first engagement with a two-day meeting scheduled to take place this weekend.
The DA believes that only time will tell whether KZN’s new Ad Hoc committee will prove successful. This will depend on whether it is used as a fishing expedition to fabricate justification for the belief that the constitution is hindering land reform, or whether it will be a sobering exercise, where we come to terms with the problems.
Coming to terms with the complexity of the failure of governments land reform programme will be a hard pill to swallow, particularly for the ANC and EFF who are still of the opinion that the current legal framework is the cause of land reform failure (in KZN and South Africa) in particular the Constitution and the drive to implement land expropriation without compensation. A number of landmark court cases, two national reports into land reform and answers to the DA’s parliamentary questions in 2019 all point in the same direction and that direction is away from the Constitution.
The institutions that the ANC-led government has established to peruse land reform are failing and without acknowledging this as the main cause of the problem there is little hope in making meaningful inroads into resolving this important issue. The main culprits are the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform – nationally and provincially – as well as the Commission for Land Reform (CLR).
At the end of 2019 the DA revealed that KZN’s Department of Agriculture (DARD) had spent R524 557 604.80 since 2010 supporting land reform farms and beneficiaries. Assistance was for production inputs, infrastructure and tractors. A further R6.7 billion has been spent on purchasing farms for land reform purposes in KZN since 2000. Of the 1 283 farms supported or purchased by DARD under land reform programmes 55% of them have become “less productive in terms of agricultural productivity” – government’s euphemism for the word ‘failed’.
In addition to the concerning figures mentioned above, 73.8% of other agricultural development beneficiaries that DARD has supported since 2012 are unable to operate without substantial assistance from government. A total of R2.138 billion has been spent on fertilizer, livestock, pesticides and seeds since 2012 – discounting 2021 allocations. Yet there is very little to show when it comes to creating a Black commercial agricultural class or seeing transformation in the sector.
A fundamental change is needed in the approach of KZN’s Department of Agriculture – one which will see greater focus on tracking, monitoring and evaluating government interventions so that resources are not simply thrown at problems in the hope that everything will rectify itself. Government must also find the political will to shift its strategy from an activity- driven approach to an outcome-driven approach where the long term self-sufficiency of emerging and small scale farmers is at the centre of the discussion.
While the DA in KZN is sceptical about the Ad Hoc Committee and commissions process, due to a history of a lack of objective intentions and poor implementation of recommendations, we will enter these meetings with an open mind and an attitude of collaboration in the interests of the many citizens who remain affected by this important issue.