The social and economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated South Africa’s fiscal crisis. But the origins of the fiscal crisis are deeper. It is a structural crisis that will define public policy over the years ahead.
A lack of clear land ownership rights for farmers is hampering efforts to open up the region to the wider market.
As a land reform practitioner of several decades, my first reaction to the news that the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development was intending to release state-owned land on the basis of long-term leases was one of incredulity.
Two weeks ago, City Press carried a depressing story on black farmers in Mpumalanga who stood to be removed from the state-owned land they were working.
With the government budget deficit expected to pass 40% this year, the African National Congress’s (ANC) options to source the coal needed to fuel its gravy train are dwindling. There should be little doubt that the new expropriation law is intended to make up for this insufficiency.
Violent attacks on South African farms have again been in the headlines, following the murder of a young farm manager in early October 2020.
