Land reform ‘bedevilled’ by unplanned informal settlements

Author: Penelope Mashego

SOUTH Africa’s land reform initiatives are bedevilled by unplanned informal settlements, land grabs and invasions, Rural Development and Land Reform Deputy Minister Mcebisi Skwatsha said on Thursday. Addressing Agri SA’s two-day congress in Pretoria, the deputy minister also cited multiple title registrations, tenure insecurity and “high entry barriers” among the problems affecting land redistribution.

The issue of land redistribution took centre stage at the ruling African National Congress’s (ANC’s) national general council last week, with delegates calling for it to be speeded up. Mr Skwatsha said established farmers and the government would have to work closely for this to happen. “As South Africans, we share a common country. We are here to stay together,” he said.

Agri SA rural development policy committee chairman Ernest Pringle said many Agri SA members were keen to participate in a share or care ownership with their employees. Mr Pringle was referring to the contentious 50:50 land share idea that farmers hand over half of their land to their employees.

 

Follow the link below to read the full article: