TLU SA is deeply concerned after the release of the long-awaited report on land reform this weekend.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture believes individuals or companies should own commercial farms in South Africa, or should at least have leases so iron-clad they can literally take them to the bank.

The report from the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture opens with the tale of Dudu Khuzwayo, a subsistence farmer from KwaZulu-Natal who dreamt of being a successful commercial farmer.

Following the release of the much-anticipated report by the presidential advisory panel on land reform and agriculture, it is time to consider a clear plan with specific implementable steps.

The land reform debate in South Africa has become increasingly polarised since Parliament resolved to consider amending the country’s Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

The controversial Land Panel Report does not only hold far-reaching consequences for agriculture but will affect every landowner in the country.

The question of land is a contentious political issue in South Africa, and one of the most divisive in the country.

South Africa’s land panel finally produced its report at the end of July. At 144 pages it’s an impressive document, making all the right noises. South Africa, like Zimbabwe, left the land issue for too long. 25 years after freedom, at least now a serious move is being made in South Africa. But will it make a difference?

The government is finalising the identification of state-owned land and will soon publish the criteria that will be used in the redistribution of land that is suitable for farming, Deputy President David Mabuza said on Wednesday.

Since Zimbabwe’s land reform of 2000 – when around 8 million hectares of formerly large-scale commercial farmland was distributed to about 175,000 households – debates about the consequences for food security have raged.

Parliament is on track to finalise the redrafting of section 25 of the constitution, or the property clause, amid growing concern by investors about the government’s proposals to expropriate land without compensation.

The Bridge Building Land Summit held last week was a platform for farmers, agricultural students, legal experts and representatives from various organisations to discuss important questions on land reform.

Smallholder farming has been neglected over the past 25 years of South Africa’s attempt to redistribute land taken away from black people during the apartheid era.

The Minister of Public Works has called for public comment on the controversial Draft Expropriation Bill published on Friday 21 December 2018.

It is significant to mention, as the presence of the two Gs – God and Government – were a constant during the day’s well-attended proceedings – which were translated into three languages: Xhosa, Afrikaans and English.

This is the first of a two-part review of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture Report submitted to the president and the public on 11 June 2019.

The report of the Presidential Advisory Panel (PAP) on land reform and agriculture, completed in May 2019, was released in July. While we agree with the view that it is a helpful intervention, we are sceptical that it can or should carry the weight of expectation that has been placed upon it.

The chair of parliament’s ad hoc committee redrafting the property clause of the constitution has rubbished suggestions that SA’s drive to address skewed land ownership echoes Zimbabwe’s land grabs of two decades ago.

What can South Africa learn about land reforms from wider global and historical experiences in the 20th century?

A constitution, former Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed once wrote, reflects the soul of a nation. In the case of South Africa, he added, the Constitution records our collective vision, aspirations and reminds us never to repeat the past. If we accept this, we should accept the Constitution’s dynamism to meet the evolving society.