Land redistribution is the focus point of the democratic government, and it is the dream of every Black South African to own a piece of land. Therefore, it is of great importance that land redistribution should not be limited to giving back the land but extended to ensuring that the land given back is used productively in order to secure food production, improve the lives of land reform beneficiaries and combat hunger and starvation. Additionally, this must be coupled with adequate support services that will ensure that the productive use of land is sustained for the purposes of rectifying the previous injustices legacy of landlessness and poverty amongst Black South Africans. A number of policy frameworks such as the White paper on land policy which is aimed at to ensuring development in rural areas to encourage economic growth and improve household welfare have been drafted to this end, but little has been done as far as implementation is concerned. Thus, to say from 1994 till to date the government’s focus has been on redistributing land to the rightful indigenous owners
419 Green paper on Land Reform 2011.
420 Kepe et al. (n111).
421 Green paper on land reform 2011, chapter 4, page 2.
more than the use of redistributed land in the hands of black South Africans. The state must balance redistribution of land with the provision of comprehensive support services to enable land reform beneficiaries to utilise their land productively. Although the balancing of redistribution of land and productive use of redistributed land could prove to be difficult with state limited resources, however same could be balance with the introduction of a systematic post settlement support services. That will ensure that beneficiaries who are assisted to farm productively equally contribute to the programme by assisting other beneficiaries with skills transfer programmes and mentorship programmes coupled with progress monitoring programme to ensure that emergent farmers farm productively.
Although, to some extent the government gave financial support to land beneficiaries who wanted to run some projects on their piece of land, but the criteria used for support services was only limited to funding and to some extent to the giving of farming equipment. Instances such as the case of Thulamela local municipality, Vhembe district in Limpopo where emergent farmers were funded by the government and other institutions such as Labour, Agricultural Research Council, British Embassy, Land Bank, ABSA, Eskom, and Equal Opportunity Foundation.422 The farmers were provided with funding, infrastructure, training, and advice, however they failed to make satisfactory production and consequently failed to continue farming. This was due to lack of progress monitoring programmes by the funders and lack of managerial skills and marketing problems. Consequently, the farming projects resulted in to failed projects as farmers abandoned farming. What Black people with land need are skills transfer programme coupled with continuous mentoring and monitoring but not excluding funding. Therefore, the support services rendered by the government were not sufficient or rather efficient to ensure that projects which were initiated are sustained.
This is quite evident from the Thulamela case, that post-settlement support services are not efficient if not couple with supporting programmes such as skills transfer and progress monitoring programmes. Hence there is a need for state to create a comprehensive post- settlement support service that encompass all the necessary programmes, resources and services needed for land reform beneficiaries to farm productively. Land reform beneficiaries need skills transfer programmes which will assist them to continuously use land productively not once off resources without knowledge of how to utilise the resources to ensure
422 Oni SA , Maliwichi LL and Obadire OS, Socio-economic factors affecting smallholder farming and household food security: A case of Thulamela local municipality in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa, African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 5(17), pp. 2289-2296, 4 September, 2010.
production in the initiated programmes. Sustainability of farming projects is not only depended on crops production but also on the marketable the goods are on agricultural market, either locally or internationally. Therefore, farmers need to farm crops which are marketable and are on demand in order to make profit and farm gainfully.
Although there are number of programmes offered for people who are interested in growing crops, none of these programmes are offered for free. Programmes such as theoretical knowledge base in agricultural technology, Competency based practical skills training, training in farm business management, these programmes are offered in private institutions and requires a farmer to pay fees. Moreover, these programmes are mostly based on theory and majority of land beneficiaries are elderly people who are not literate, but they are physically fit and can be good candidates to learn farming skills practically. What land beneficiaries need is an opportunity to be taught how to farm and manage continuous production of goods on their farms. This is a process which cannot be achieved over night, but continuous monitoring and mentoring will help substantially.
Productive use of land is not only limited to farming, there are a number of other projects which land beneficiaries can do, such as partnering with developers or investors to develop the land with infrastructures such as building of firms such as manufacturing industries of paper, sugar, beverage, food, metals and many other goods which will create job opportunities for other Black South Africans. But mostly focus is on farming because it is the fastest way to combat hunger and starvation, which are the common elements amongst poor South Africans. The government showed initiative to combat hunger and starvation but introducing food parcels programme such as Zero hunger programmes, empowered by the RDP and implemented by the Department of Social Development, consequently this programme is not sustainable. The programme does not empower Black South Africans but makes them to be too dependent on handouts, rendering poor people as a liability to the state. According to Koch food parcels as a form of social services to historical disadvantaged people is necessitated by the legacy of apartheid regime which deprived Black people land, livestock and denying Black people opportunities to develop, access to markets, infrastructure and human capital.423However, it does not necessarily have to be the only programme historical disadvantaged people are afforded as a form of poverty redressal.
423 Koch Josee (2011). The food security policy context in South Africa, Country Study, No. 21, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), Brasilia.
There’s a need to have a progressive strategy of equipping and capacitating Black people to fend for themselves. Hence continuous focus on provision of food parcels alone will render the government to be working towards regression with if no other interventions are introduced to capacitate Black people to fend for themselves. More focus should be put in programmes which are equipping poor people to continuously make a living from.
Programmes such as providing a comprehensive post-settlement support services to land reform beneficiaries to utilise redistributed land productively and generate income.
Programmes which will not only encourage productive use of land but also equip land reform beneficiaries with knowledge through as skills transfer programmes and make provision of resources to start businesses and further make available continuous mentoring and monitoring programmes. This approach would ensure sustainability in projects managed by land beneficiaries by providing land reform beneficiaries with all necessary knowledge, skills, resources and support needed to farm productively and consequently eradicate poverty amongst black people.