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Farm co-ownership pilot project launched in KZN

22 Aug 2016

Agriportal will redirect you to the real people in agriculture - the farmers of South Africa, Africa and the world. One of the first pilot projects that will see workers and farm owners become co-owners of a farming enterprise as part of government's 50/50 land policy was officially launched in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.

Andrew Hill via Wikimedia Commons

The pilot project‚ which was unveiled at the Westcliffe Farm near Greytown outside Pietermaritzburg‚ was to have been officially launched by President Jacob Zuma. However‚ Zuma did not make it to the event because he had to attend the funeral of the late liberation struggle veteran and ANC leader in exile‚ Qethu Mdluli‚ who was buried in Bergville.

Instead, the event was officiated by rural development and land reform minister Gugilwe Nkwinti who said the project will be used as a “school where other people will learn from.”

Nkwinti first announced the introduction of the 50/50 policy framework in 2014 as part of efforts to ensure farm workers benefit from owning shares in the farms on which they work as well as providing them with security of tenure. Early last year‚ Zuma announced that 50 pilot projects testing the 50/50 policy would be rolled out around the country.

The 514ha Westcliffe Farm has 270ha sugar cane‚ 140ha timber and a 10ha irrigated cabbage operation. Former owner Andrew Braithwaite‚ who will now be co-owning a new farm called Khamanzi Farming Project‚ said land was a very emotional topic in SA “and we’ve been shown how not to deal with it by our northern neighbour” — in reference to Zimbabwe’s chaotic land reform system.

Read the full article on Agri Africa.