Land reform is high on the agenda today by the outspoken Andile Mngxitama of Black Land First who said earlier on: “This weekend we are holding a summit on land reform in Soweto and white people are not welcome there except when they come to return our land.” Mngxitama is one of the great initiators of brutal, violent land occupation. He said the government’s land reform policy would take more than a century to transfer land back to blacks. This is a sentiment openly supported by Julius Malema and was raised by the DA’s James Selfe a few months ago in Parliament. According to him, the DA is angry because the ANC has only transferred 8% of the land to blacks – it should go a lot faster.

The question is: Is it really land they seek? Very few of the farms expropriated by land claims or repurchased and transferred to black peasants survived. Krynaauwslus in the Free State is an example of a prize farm that is now a garbage dump. Zebediela, which was a world-famous citrus farm in its day, is trashed. Is it not enough proof that there is no interest in cultivating and developing the land?

The liberal argument is “Yes, but they do not have skills, they need to be taught.” If you worked on a farm for four generations with the farmer, you do not need to study to know that you do not eat the stud bulls. You do not need to take a course to know that you will have to water the maize that is planted. You do not need a mentor to say, “Those guavas on the trees are ripe and will fall off – pick them up.” Many people would rather have an entire flock on the farm, break down the building to build six shacks, drain the fuel from the bakkie to make a braai fire and leave the rest to the dear Lord’s mercy. “Because we do not have the knowledge – we have been left behind.” Go and think for a moment. WHY you’ve been left behind!

Indeed, it is not about land. This is all to do with money.

The Deputy Minister for Rural Reform, Mcebisi Skwatsha, expressed his concern about this issue yesterday. Between 1950 and 1985 at Lawaaikamp George, there was a demand for land to be returned to black people who were moved off their land. The claim was granted, and they did not want the land, they wanted money, and therefore R13 million was paid to them recently.

It was just a week ago, a report was issued that the state had taken back 4000 farms and nothing is happening because the claimants do not want the land.

Does it make any sense for the ANC, the Black Land First, the EFF, and especially the DA?
Instead of land, money is now paid out.

This will in a few months’ time be wasted and then once again there will be a demand for the state to take care of the unfortunate victims of a very oppressive apartheid regime who forced the victims to sit on an ash heap of poverty and were robbed by the white man. We are starting right from the beginning again.

The short and long of the indaba are: They claim land, but they do not want it. It sounds like nothing more than the usual begging. Every piece of land that is claimed and taken means a fewer bags of maize flour, a few more Rands for a piece of meat and a few more farm workers who will go to town to beg at a stop street.

Read the original article by Daniel Lötter in Afrikaans on Front Nasionaal SA – blad