Farmers’ lobby group blasts land seizure plans

South African farmers’ lobby group Agri SA slammed the ruling party’s plans to change the constitution to make it easier to expropriate land without compensation and accused the government of failing to implement existing policies to address racially skewed ownership patterns.

Government data shows more than two-thirds of farmland is owned by whites, who constitute 7.8% of the country’s 57.7 million people — a status quo rooted in colonial and white-minority rule. The ruling African National Congress decided in December that the situation is untenable and tasked a parliamentary committee to review the constitution to address it. The panel is holding public hearings in parliament in Cape Town this week.

Christo van der Rheede, Agri SA’s deputy executive director, told the panel on Wednesday there was very little cooperation between the national and provincial government on land reform, and that bureaucracy and an ineffective legislative framework were frustrating the process.

Changing the constitution “will not be about the outcomes we all seek,” Van der Rheede said. “No change is necessary. What needs to be changed is the entire bureaucratic system.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa has given assurances that the government isn’t embarking on a land grab and any policy changes won’t be allowed to damage agricultural production. Even so, data released on Tuesday showed farm output dropped an annualised 29.2% in the second quarter and was a major contributor to the country falling into its first recession since 2009.

“We are seeing how agriculture is suffering due to the uncertainty,” Van der Rheede said.