BLOEMFONTEIN (Sapa) - Commercial farmers union Agri SA said it was stunned by suggestions that farmers should transfer up to 40 percent of their farm value to black shareholders as part of a new land reform scheme, Agri SA President Johannes Moller said on Thursday.

"It is unacceptable that several government officials have in recent months repeatedly made speculative and extremely controversial statements regarding land policy which undermines confidence and creates unrealistic expectations," he said.

In a recent interview with Beeld newspaper, Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said the government was investigating a shareholding scheme to replace the willing seller, willing buyer system to reach land reform targets.

Under such a scheme farmers might have to transfer up to 40 percent of their farm value to black shareholders as part of Black Economic Empowerment legislation.

"It is clear that the ANC struggles to find a workable model to give effect to the party's controversial Polokwane resolutions regarding accelerated land reform and an end to the willing buyer, willing seller approach," Moller reacted.

Agri SA said these resolutions placed the emphasis on the wrong point of departure, because a variety of factors other than the price of land contributed to the frustrations experienced with the slow progress of land reform.

Moller said the resolutions ignored factors such as poor administration, differences of opinion between claimant communities and corruption.

He said Joemat-Pettersson's views should also be seen against the backdrop of the government's admission that more than 90 percent of state-assisted land reform initiatives had failed.

The farmers' union said it was obvious that the circumstances warranted stronger discipline when it came to land acquisition and transfer, with a sharper focus on the lessons which could be learned from failures.

Moller said there was much that still needed to be done before the capacity and circumstances were in place to facilitate accelerated land reform which produced meaningful results.

"Her utterances regarding the possible transfer of 40 percent of farm [value] are premature, unviable and undesirable."

Agri SA said the minister had also failed to provide clarity on who would pay for the 40 percent shareholding and how the value of the transactions would be determined.

Moller said the government should refrain from a speculative debate on important and emotional issues and should instead enter into constructive dialogue with stakeholders to find sustainable solutions.

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