It is a great pleasure and great honour to be here to speak at the launch of the Southern African Agricultural Initiative. For years, we at the institute of Race Relations have taken a keen interest in the fate of the farming sector – both out of concern for its own sustainability, and for what it signifies for the country as a whole.
Government appears to have cut the Ingonyama Trust Board loose, choosing not to join the ITB’s defence of a court challenge to its authority to issue leases to residents of the 2.8-million hectares of land it administers on behalf of King Goodwill Zwelithini.
The most recent state-backed land conference in Pretoria was full of sunshine. Through an ionic colonnade, the generous tiled portico of St George’s Hotel gave onto a neatly styled courtyard garden nestled between mosaics of ancient gods and cherubs and fountains and ponds.
There’s no doubt that the world faces tremendous challenges. There is enough food in our world to feed the hungry – but it’s not evenly distributed. There’s sufficient medicine available to treat a number of dread diseases – but this often doesn’t reach those who need it. There are innovative ways to supply water and generate energy – but they cost money.
This was one of the agreements reached at the conference on “Resolving the Land Question: Land redistribution for equitable access to land in South Africa,” held at the University of the Western Cape earlier this month.
The land reform dear to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is not only of concern to white farmers. As large landowners, mining groups are also afraid of paying the price of a massive and unbridled redistribution of land.
