Land debate: The facts are on the table
1 November 2017
Previously disadvantaged people now own 26,7% of all farmland in South Africa. This is significantly more than the 14% which this group owned in 1994. White farmers now own 73,3% of farmland compared to 85,1% in 1994. These are findings of a comprehensive land audit done by Agri Development Solutions (ADS) in conjunction with Agri SA and Landbouweekblad. The results of the audit, which focused on agricultural land transactions between 1994 and 2016, were released at Agri SA’s offices in Centurion.
Agri SA contributed R1 million towards the purchase and processing of deeds office data for the period 1994 to 2010. The audit revealed that the supply-and-demand mechanism – willing seller and willing buyer – does in fact work to bring about successful land reform.
Agri SA has long been aware of the need for a land audit. Policy formulation is driven by emotion and perception, rather than facts. Since 2005 nothing has come of the many attempts to facilitate a thorough land audit. Gugile Nkwinti, minister of rural development and land reform, will apparently soon be releasing the results of the government’s land audit.
ADS processed the deeds office data in a scientific manner. The outcome is a database which indicates the amount of agricultural land purchased and sold, as well as by whom and at what cost, between 1995 and 2016. Agri SA commissioned an external audit to be conducted by the auditing firm Nkonki.