Land Reform - SA's new proposed property law is ruffling feathers.
Category Legal Matters
According to a recent motion, the ruling ANC party now wants farm owners to donate a portion of their land to emerging black farmers as part of a new shift in their land expropriation policy.
This became a major topic of discussion after a recent draft of the policy document prepared for the party's July conference was reported on by the Sunday Times. This proposal is meant to address the problems within the party's previous plans to amend the constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.
Instead, the new plan proposes the formation of the "Land Reform and Agricultural Development Agency" which will be established to address these concerns.
What is the proposed Land Reform and Agricultural Development Agency?
This agency will be focused primarily on redistributing donated land and keeping track of these transactions alongside other supposed responsibilities that include the following:
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Drafting and enacting policy and processes to facilitate land donations.
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Defining and implementing a mechanism for recognising farmers who donate land for undefined incentives.
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Providing both strategic and financial support to benefit black farmers.
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Strategising and implementing programmes which will assist new farmers with both access to markets and skill development across the agricultural value chain.
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Managing state-owned land earmarked for distribution and donated land.
What happened to Expropriation Without Compensation?
A few years back, the ANC tabled a motion in parliament which would allow the government to divide up land and redistribute it as they saw fit. However, with waning electoral support alongside a failure to secure enough votes from opposition parties to amend the constitution (a 2/3s majority vote) a new path had to be established.
According to Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola, the ANC is in no way deterred from its goals and will now seek to use regular legislative policies to enact and facilitate this process.
"Changing the Constitution was just one instrument we could have used," says Lamola. "The matter is now over. We will now use our simple majority to pass laws that will allow for expropriation without compensation."
Opposition statements
A majority of opposition parties have stated that they do not support this motion and further stated that this proposal would only work to undermine property rights and investor confidence in South Africa. While the populist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) declared that ANC simply isn't going far enough.
Civil rights group Afriforum has stated that they will challenge this motion which they believe will "disrupt and effectively abolish" property rights in South Africa.
"This is clearly another veiled attempt by the ANC to meddle with property rights. The chances that this agency will act in a neutral and fair manner is highly doubtful," a spokesperson from Afriforum said.
The leading opposition party the Democratic Alliance also had concerns and while they support a land reform process that achieves redress in rural communities, they are concerned that such a move will not only disrupt property rights but will also throw a spanner in the works of effective but incremental change in land policy over time.
This is due, in part, they say, to the ANC's inability to effectively address land reform or adequately manage existing programmes that this new proposal would replace.
"Agricultural Development (LRAD) and the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) have been so badly managed that it has led to widespread confusion, with affected farmers left facing an uncertain future due to a poor land tenure system." A statement from their website.
Conclusion
While proponents and adversaries continue to debate on the failures and/or merits of the concept. The real issue lies in the manner in which the discussion takes place. Oftentimes, discussion about addressing past injustices dilutes racial and socio-economic lines which often muddies the waters and makes it impossible to take a reasoned position.
This is especially true given the social climate and the increased polarisation of political spaces and talking points. Ultimately, this makes it exceptionally difficult to have a nuanced conversation.
The fact of the matter is, that constant debate raging over land reform will most likely never be addressed by simply redistributing land by whatever targets are devised. In other words, a land reform policy which disregards how South Africans relate to each other and their interpersonal social identities will likely result in the underlying conflict continuing on into posterity.
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Author: LV Digital