Farmers everywhere face risk. But what if you had to farm not knowing if the land you owned would be taken away from you tomorrow?
That’s what’s happening to some South African farmers today. The South African government has a policy called Land Reform, and the goal is to get 30% of farmland into black African ownership. In 1994, at the end of apartheid, almost 90% of the land in South Africa was owned by white South Africans, who make up less than 10% of the population. The government led by the African National Congress (ANC) vowed to redistribute land, but implementing land reform policies has been a struggle…
If a native African can supply proof his or her ancestors were buried on the land or that the family held it in control before 1910 – the year apartheid was established – they can sue the government to gain ownership. If the claimant wins, the landowner must sell that land to the government, and the land is given to the claimant.
Even if the claim is dubious, the white farm owner will find it difficult to get capital or loans as long as land ownership is in doubt, says Gerrit Roos, a 48-year-old farmer who hopes to pass his 7,500-acre farm on to his two sons someday. “The government is chasing the white farmers away,” he says.
In addition, South African law holds that if a black farm worker occupies one of the farm owner’s tenant houses for 10 years, they own the house. That rule does not apply if the worker is white.
Law backfires
Like so many government policies, South Africa’s land reform law can and often does, backfire. Newly-minted black owners usually have neither the skills or desire to become farmers…
