Beginning of the End?

Land reform / Land redistribution / Land grab / Expropriation / Ethnic cleansing.

We have firsthand experience of the success of this policy in Zimbabwe and yet the ANC government is hell-bent on taking this country down the same path of implosion. The government’s policy of land reform is also a black empowerment policy. The same principle applies.

Farms are given to unskilled people just as cushy jobs are handed to unqualified blacks. Those blacks who can farm and are competent to run a company are penalized because of this. The whole process is skewed and, ultimately, dishonest, and it is little wonder foreign investment is shaky. So many commentators both here and overseas find the SA government’s policies “unfathomable”, a word used often. Robert Mugabe’s behavior is unfathomable, of course, but it is unfathomable to people not of his mindset. Are those in charge of South Africa of the same turn of thought?

Journalist Stephen Mulholland wrote in 2001 that “the greedy rob the wealthy”. There is a ratio of 11:1 of voters to taxpayers.

In the USA the ratio is approximately 2: 1. (Sunday Times 23 September 2001) In February 2002, journalist Matthew Lester reported that there were 3,4 million individual taxpayers in South Africa who take on the burden of R90 billion of individual taxes out of a total tax collection of R233 billion. (Business Times February 10, 2002).

This statistic excludes the substantial additional taxes that are paid by individual taxpayers by way of VAT. These individual taxpayers represent only 9% of the population, but they are the people with some real power, and they should be heard. They should speak out for this country’s agricultural sector.

Business should also be up in arms, because dozens if not scores of towns throughout South Africa will disappear if agriculture fails. Businesses will then be taxed further to make up the shortfall.

“It is said that white farmers currently own 87% of South Africa’s land. When one deducts the 25% owned by the government, the remaining figure of 62% must be viewed against a background of other vital factors. Less than 12% of SA’s land is suitable for cultivation. South Africa has an average annual rainfall of only 464 mm, against a world average of 857 mm. Twenty one percent of the country has a total rainfall of less than 200 mm annually, 48% between 200 mm and 600 mm, while only 31% records more than 600 mm. Thus 65% of the country has an average annual rainfall of 500 mm – usually regarded as the absolute minimum for successful dry-land farming.”

“Some of the best and most fertile, high rainfall land in South Africa is found in six traditional black areas, but most farmers there produce only for their own consumption. More than 70% of South Africa, including more than 100 medium-sized towns, is dependent on underground water sources, tapped through the use of sophisticated borehole equipment. This represents about 13% of all the water used in the country. It should be remembered that huge tracts of land in South Africa, particularly in the northern areas, would be completely useless if it were not for these deep boreholes. Cattle farming in these areas depend almost completely on these underground water sources.

South Africa’s commercial farmers are among the best in the world, if not the best. They have to contend with a plethora of problems – the vagaries of the weather, constant drought, rising taxes on everything from the rain on their trees to municipal levies (for which they receive nothing), and excessively high toll road costs. South Africa’s land tenure laws make it difficult to dismiss workers, let alone remove these workers from their properties, and they are besieged by land invasions and squatters.

They are the victims of crop and stock theft, more murders per capita of their group than any other community on earth. They are burnt out, their fences are destroyed, and they are intimidated to the point where many have abandoned their farms. The government’s minimum wage policy has resulted in a fifty-percent drop in farm labour numbers, and many of these ex-employees now wander the cities looking for work. Every farm that is expropriated from it legal owners with will speed up famine and starvation in this country. The wealth of knowledge from 7th and 8th generation farmers can never be replaced.

ANC calls for rethink on land redistribution

The African National Congress, under pressure over the amount of land still in white hands, called on Sunday for the scrapping of laws allowing farmers to set a price for land to be redistributed to black South Africans.

"The willing-buyer/willing seller clause has to be abandoned," said a statement after South Africa's governing alliance held a summit to review economic policy driving the country forward after elections in 2009.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said the current situation where 87% of the country's land still resided in the hands of 50 000 white farmers, 14 years on from the end of whites-only apartheid rule, was "untenable".

"Land redistribution cannot depend on the willingness of those who own to sell," he said, adding there should be an "evaluation of land and expropriation thereof".

Land reform has become an increasingly contentious issue throughout Southern Africa since Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe embarked on a programme that has seen about 4 000 white farmers lose their land since the turn of the decade.

While Mugabe's policy has been blamed for much of Zimbabwe's economic turmoil, many Africans applaud his self-styled drive to correct imbalances stemming from the colonial era.

The failure of current land distribution legislation led the ANC to try implement a law this year which would speed up land reform through expropriation.

However lawmakers shelved the controversial Bill in August citing "improper consultation" and some parts of it were said to be unconstitutional.

The South African Institute of Race Relations, in calling for the Bill to be withdrawn -- which aimed to allow for expropriat ion in "the public interest" -- said it was a "draconian measure" which would unsettle the property rights of all South Africans. Parliament's public works committee said it hoped the legislation would be reintroduced in the next Parliament.

While South Africa has promised to redistribute 30% of white-owned land by 2014, the government's flailing land reform programme has so far seen only 4% of land, or four-million hectares, transferred to black South Africans since 1994.

Farmers have often been accused of asking unrealistic prices for their land while they in turn have bemoaned the levels of bureaucracy involved in the whole process.

Mantashe bemoaned the fact that land restitution always becomes a "racial issue" where white farmers need to be protected.

The ANC and its junior partners from the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) meanwhile said emergency measures were needed to bring relief to those struggling with rising food prices.

"There must also be a moratorium on the sale of government land for golf courses and game parks rather than agriculture."

Unemployment
The alliance also vowed to halve unemployment by creating five million jobs

"The creation of decent work for all South Africans, including the unemployed and underemployed, must be the primary focus of all economic policies, including industrial and trade policy," read an alliance statement which laid out the commitment to create five million jobs.

South Africa's exact unemployment level is a matter of contention, with official estimates putting it at 23,1% of the population while unofficial estimates put it at nearly 40%.

Mantashe said the five million figure would cut the unemployment level by more than a half.

"It will take us below the halfway mark. We aim to halve unemployment by 2014," he said.

The summit proposed setting up a ministry of social security, increasing the age of child support grants from 14 to 18 year-olds, giving a flat benefit to unemployed workers, a basic income grant and free healthcare delivery as part of a national health insurance scheme.

While former president Thabo Mbeki oversaw an uninterrupted period of growth during his decade as president, critics say he did little to combat unemployment and the wealth gap actually increased during his time in office.

"There is the need for both continuity and change," said the statement, adding several economic policies required review.

The alliance partners also said government should "consider introducing requirements on investments to promote investment in social infrastructure, housing for the poor and job creation."

While South Africa has escaped relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis the alliance felt it would impact on growth prospects and developmental goals.

"The global crisis will also impact upon our persisting systemic points of vulnerability -- currency volatility, the current account and inflationary pressures."

The summit discussed macroeconomic policy choices including inflation targeting, which has seen interest rates increased 10 times since June 2006 in a bid to curb inflation which surged to 13,7% in August, its highest level since 2002.

"Macroeconomic policy needs to support economic development and employment creation."

The summit resolutions are believed to be a key indicator of economic policy after a 2009 election which the ANC is expected to win, and comes ahead of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's mid-term budget policy statement on Tuesday.

And this whilst the ANC realizes that the genocide of the farmers has already resulted in the loss of food production.

ANC Alliance seeks two-tier Cabinet

"South Africa has grown from being a net exporter to being an importer of food and this needs to be addressed.

"Policy must be geared to increase food production and safeguard food security so that we rely less on imports," a statement issued after the summit said.

This, they said, would help make food affordable and ad dress growing starvation and unemployment in the country. Source

Read THE ROAD TO POVERTY

The Collapse of The AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ARC)

Until the present government came to power, South Africa was not only a leading player in agricultural research in Africa but indeed in the world.

Many of its institutes were world famous - Onderstepoort for example was South Africa and Africa’s most prestigious veterinary science research institution. South African scientists were lauded throughout the world (as were South African doctors and other professionals) for their dedication, skill and innovation. It looks as if this has come to an end.

In 2002 already, the red lights were flickering. A report entitled “Onderstepoort in Crisis” named important scientists who had fled the institute:

• Dr. Frank Vreede, a molecular genetics expert who left for Europe. He specialized in controlling gene expression by manipulating animal responses to vaccination to optimize immunity.
• Dr. Mandy Bastos, a molecular epidemiologist who specialized in foot and mouth disease. She played a large part in tracing the origin of the disease.
• Dr. Kelly Brayton, molecular parasitology expert, now in Washington. She had trained in the techniques needed for parasite whole genome sequencing.
• Dr. Etienne de Villiers, a bio-informatics expert, is now in Nairobi. Bio-informaticians are essential computer experts who analyse the masses of genome sequencing data.
• Nico Gunter and Henriette Macmillan, both cellular immunologists who worked on vaccine development. They worked on understanding how animals control infections with parasites that live inside the animal’s cells.
• Dr. Mary Louise Penrith, a head of pathology after 10 and a half years at the institution, left for Mozambique.
• Dr. Leon Prozesky, veterinary pathologist and head of pathology, had extensive experience in performing post-mortem diagnoses of tropical diseases.
• Dr. Theo de Waal, veterinary parasitologist, was head of the parasitology department. His expertise was in tropical parasites in domestic animals. He is now in the United Kingdom.
• Dr. Albie van Dijk, a virologist and previous head of the biochemistry department. He developed vaccines against tropical viral diseases such as African horse sickness and bluetongue. He is now in Australia.
• Dr. Gavin Thomson, internationally recognized expert in foot and mouth disease and rabies. Previously the director of Onderstepoort, he now works in Nairobi as an international consultant in the disease.
• Dr. Durr Bezuidenhout was an expert in heartwater disease. This disease is a tick-borne disease and is a killer of cattle, sheep and goats. He took early retirement.
• Dr. Janusz Paweska was head of the virology department with experience in tropical virological diseases of animals and man. He is now a consultant on Ebola fever in Central Africa.
• Dr. Jan du Preez was head of the technology transfer department, which is now closed.

Agricultural research in South Africa is at a crossroads. Not one of the ARC’s institutes can claim to be without a flaw of some nature. Staff employed by the ARC has declined from 4 800 in 1994 to 2 554 at the end of March 2003. Employees at the ARC no longer see a future for themselves. These people are approximately 30% behind their public service colleagues in terms of salaries.

Private sector organizations are shifting their contributions to other research facilities, since the ARC can give no guarantee that long-term research projects can be brought to a successful conclusion. Funds for specific research projects are closely linked to specific researchers. If they leave, the funds follow them.

Decision making has been centralized at head office. Many opportunities are lost because the decision-makers at head office are unfamiliar with conditions at the coal face. The distrust has grown, and the level of victimization of employees deserves scrutiny. The brain drain must be halted, or all of South Africa will lose. Furthermore, there is a huge gap in salaries between researchers and new appointments. Secretaries at Central Office receive equal and more than researchers with M.Sc. qualifications and many years of service. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of secretarial and administrative staff at Central Office.

Up to May 2002, Onderstepoort had already lost almost 200 years of experience through resignations. The mentality that funding research of “non-profit undertakings” is not acceptable had clearly won the day. Money dried up and salary increases were far below the norm.
People said they left because of this, but researchers with whom we talked declared it was virtually impossible to work for people who were not scientists, who knew nothing about science, and who did not understand long-term thinking. This bleeding of exceptional people was all the more tragic given that Onderstepoort has been at the forefront of South African veterinary science since 1908.

In mid 2002 already, several departments had closed - the departments of information technology, bacterial vaccine development, ostrich diseases and marketing. Many middle-level researchers with specific expertise had left. It is also important to note that this research was done in 2002; the situation has significantly deteriorated ever since. Source