ANC’s lies about land ownership in South Africa

There are various lies and myths about land reform that the ANC government uses to keep the process of land reform alive. Hard facts, however, show that people aren’t really interested in land, but rather in the money that can be made from this process, Dr. Pieter Groenewald, the FF Plus’ chief spokesperson on rural development and land reform, says.

Dr. Groenewald, today during the budget debate of the department of rural development and land reform, said the first lie is the government’s propaganda that 80% of all land belongs to white people.

He said such a statement can only be made if there is certainty about what land is owned by whom.

For more than sixteen years government has been busy with a land audit. But the government does not come to light with the outcome, and this suits the government because then it can keep on selling this lie.

“The next lie is that the government tells people that land reform gives land to people. Research, however, shows that only one percent of land acquired by the government has been transferred legally. The real owner, therefore, is the state.

“The reality is that one first has to be the legal owner of the land before you can borrow money to develop the land and where land can be used as security. The government prefers it this way because it wants people who get the land to fail. This is then also what happens.

 “Ninety percent of all land reform projects in the country fail. Only one in ten of the commercial farms which had been obtained through land reform is to varying degrees still operative. The only thing the process does is to threaten food security in South Africa. 

“Now there is talk of a Bill on Communal Land. It is however clearly stated that there will be no ownership acquired in these areas. Women, whose husbands die, will have no security of tenure. It will depend on the whims of the tribal leaders or traditional leaders.

 “Security is therefore not being established here, but people are being misled with statements that land reform will give them security of tenure.

 “The next lie is that land alone enriches people. Mere land ownership does not make one rich, but it can make you very poor. It is hard work and requires ingenuity to successfully manage a piece of land.

 “What is important is that 93% of beneficiaries, who receive land, elect rather to be paid out for the land. They prefer cash. It shows that people do not really want land, but are in actual fact interested in the financial advantages of land reform.

 “There is a further myth that land is just transferred. The truth is that the state becomes the owner in the majority of cases. This nationalisation is so vast that there will most likely be a surprise for the EFF when they try to nationalise the land one day. By that time the ANC will have done it already,” Dr. Groenewald said.

Statement issued by Dr. Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus chief spokesperson: Rural Development and Land Reform, 26 April 2016