Idle farmers could lose their land

Should this proposal be accepted, the state would be able to force owners of "farmable" land to use it efficiently for food production or risk having it transferred to "hands that will use it properly".

The department said it would create 320 000 jobs in agriculture and construction in the medium term. Rural development director-general Thozi Gwanya said that the department would table a green paper with its proposals in cabinet by the end of this month.

"We're talking about jobs (on) farms, in recapitalisation and in processing; turning vegetables into soup and so on," he said.

"The other jobs would be in infrastructure: the construction of roads and paving would be done using brickyards, which would be a source of job creation."

Gwanya said a system of open-ended leases had worked for China, as farmers were not allowed to sell land used for food production to private owners.

"In other words, when you're on the land you have an open-ended lease where, if you're not using it properly, the state can intervene."

Gwanya and the minister of rural development, Gugile Nkwinti, had put the proposal to farmers to get their point of view.

Other talks with farmers related to how they could help to restore the fortunes of neglected land transferred as part of the government's land distribution initiative.

Gwanya said: "We've accepted that about 50% of the almost 6-million hectares we've handed over is unproductive.

"So we're worried that the more we increase the number of hectares we're transferring to the new farmers, the more hectares that may be affected by underproductivity."

He said the government's proposal did not suggest that productive land should be nationalised.

"What (farmers) are saying is that they're open to discussion. But, of course, when you talk about land being a national asset, jitters of nationalisation come in. That's not what we're talking about."

Source: Sunday Times