Deputy President Paul Mashatile has issued a direct appeal to the nation’s developed commercial farmers, urging them to partner with the government to release land and accelerate the pace of land reform. The call was made during a three-day oversight visit to the Western Cape, with Thursday’s focus squarely on the progress and challenges of land redistribution.
Mashatile, accompanied by the Minister for Land Reform and Rural Development, Mzwanele Nyhontso, conducted an interactive session with community members and beneficiaries of land reform projects in the greater Overberg area. The day included a tour of a government-funded farm near Villiersdorp, which produces apples, pears, grain, and livestock through the Land Development Support Program.
Central to the Deputy President’s message was a commitment to a negotiated, constitutional approach, explicitly distancing the government’s policy from the land invasions that marked the initial phase of reform in Zimbabwe.
“Our government has taken a decision that we will not do it like Zimbabwe,” Mashatile stated. “We’ve decided as a constitutional democracy there must be negotiations, engagements and by the way government does buy land. We have been doing so and we’re going to continue to do that. So let’s negotiate.”
While acknowledging that Parliament has passed a law allowing for expropriation of land for public use, Mashatile emphasized that this is not the government’s preferred starting point. He highlighted that the state is also releasing vast amounts of its own land, owned by entities like the defense force and public works, to the landless for farming and housing.
Echoing the call for cooperation, Minister Nyhontso urged white farmers to release land and not resist transformation. He concurrently admitted to significant failures in past government land reform projects, attributing many struggles to a lack of ongoing support for new farmers.
“The reason these farmers are failing, it is because we have made a mistake as government of giving people land without support,” Nyhontso said. “I want to make sure that if we’re giving you land immediately we’re also giving you what we call post settlement support or land development support… It is not black people cannot farm. It is because black people do not have resources to farm.”
The visit underscored the practical challenges on the ground. Management at the Villiersdorp farm reported that while the project has slowly begun to yield results, its growth is severely hampered by a 30-year lease agreement instead of full ownership. They stated that the inability to use the land as collateral prevents them from securing commercial loans and making long-term investments.
A farm representative highlighted the need for title deeds, calling it “the game changer” that would provide the security needed to plan, expand operations, and increase the labor force.
The Deputy President’s outreach continues, with plans to visit other communities that have benefited from land reform programs. He will be joined by other government ministers in the coming days to address a range of local issues.