50/50 DOWN ON THE FARMS
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) has just published its final policy proposals on land reform titled "Strengthening the Relative Rights of People Working the Land". According to officials of the DRDLR, the Minister, Gugile Nkwinti, must first consult with role-players in the agricultural sector regarding the proposals. A final version will then be submitted to the new cabinet after next month's elections.
This is just as well because the proposals in their present form would have extremely serious implications for property rights, food security and for the future viability of our agricultural sector.
They propose, in brief, that all farmers would be required to hand 50% of their farms to their workers. The farm workers' share "will be allotted to them, proportional to their contribution to the development of the land, based on the number of years they had worked on the land". Accordingly, labourers who have worked for 10 years on the farm will be granted 10% of the workers' land allocation; those who have worked for 25 years will receive 25% of the land allocation and those who have worked for 50 years of the farm will be entitled to 50% of the land allocation. (It is not clear what will happen if there are eight workers who have worked for 10 years and three who have worked for 25 years?).
The state will buy the 50% of the farm that will be allocated to the farm workers. However, it will not pay the proceeds to the farmer but "into an investment and development fund (IDF) to be jointly owned by the parties constituting the new ownership regime. The Fund will be used to develop the managerial and production capacity of the new entrants to land ownership, to further invest on the farm as well as to buy out people who wish to opt out of the new regime".
According to the proposals, "the acquisition of equity by farm workers" must result in "a fundamental change in the control mechanism of the farm". This is seen as "a fundamental game-changer". "It introduces co-management of the farm, based on relative equity-holdings and the capacity of each participant in production and management".