[I always take these statements VERY SERIOUSLY. This means they want to push things forward much faster – with predictable results of course. It looks like our agricultural sector is going to take a serious dive in the next several years as these Govt policies start making an impact.

All this talk of “need”… is freaky stuff. The “need” is not as great as they pretend. Remember Robert Mugabe who said how the blacks were just dying for a chance to farm? And then? 90% of the land they stole is now unused. Same thing in South Africa… in fact, there may be even LESS INTEREST in farming among Blacks in S.Africa than in Zimbabwe.

But the DAMAGE this will do to the economy is no joke. I notice when shopping, that the cost of fruit and vegetables is rising. And this is only the beginning. I’m sure this will fuel some serious inflation. Maybe S.Africans should start planning for more inflation. It appears to me to be that way. Maybe one day we’ll be sitting with 50% inflation per annum? I wonder how many years it will take to get there?

The “Rainbow Nation” dream is starting to unravel seriously. Give it a little more time. Just a few more years. Many people in this country haven’t learnt what fear really is… FEAR and WORRY… will be on its way. This cutsy little “dream” is coming to an end, and will be replaced with serious worries for people. The “fun” of ANC rule… is going to evaporate. Jan]

South Africa will actively target land for redistribution to the landless black population to help speed the slow pace of agricultural reform, the land minister said on Tuesday.

“The state will pro-actively target land and match this with the demand or need for land,” Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza said in a speech to parliament.

President Thabo Mbeki’s ruling African National Congress has vowed to speed the transfer of agricultural land that, more than a decade after the end of apartheid, still rests largely in white hands.

South Africa wants to transfer 30 percent of commercial farmland to blacks by 2014, but so far less than four percent has been turned over.

The government has vowed the process will be orderly, and has been cautious to avoid comparison with neighbouring Zimbabwe where a forceful seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution is partly blamed for the country’s economic collapse.

But Mbeki said last month the government would review its willing-buyer willing-seller policy to land reform.

Didiza said her department would implement a “proactive land acquisition strategy”.

“This strategy will embrace two approaches, a needs-based approach and a supply-led mechanism, focusing on the state as a lead driver in land redistribution rather than the current beneficiary-driven redistribution.”

Pilot projects would be undertaken in specific zones and on farms that have a large number of worker tenants, she added.

Didiza also said the government was confident it will meet its target to settle all land restitution claims by 2008.

More than 71 000 of a total 79 000 urban and rural claims from people dispossessed of land under racial laws had so far been settled.

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>