MEETING WITH PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS

 

Badfontein

The inhabitants of Badfontein are a group of people with above average respect and love for one another - which emotions extend to our beautiful valley. We like to think that we treat this heritage with appreciation. As best we can, we go about it with care and responsibility.

Badfontien is situated south of Lydenburg on the escarpment, in the vicinity of Dullstroom, the N4 and Machadodorp, en route to Nelspruit and the Kruger National Park. Our Valley assets are centered around its human capital, its location and its natural beauty.

Community and environmental awareness is borne out by the following:

As form follows function, organization was based on the results of mutual awareness of, and caring for each other’s needs. By and large the whole community presently perceives like opportunities and threats for and to, our future. We also agree about the strong and weak points of our valley and its inhabitants. Being mutually interdependent we have a strong basis for association and a will to cooperate. Just recently a literacy and mathematical skills drive emanated from this. The drive was supported by the Wits College, farm schools and community associations. It was driven and funded by land owners. The results were; consolidation of smaller farm schools and the establishment of a secondary school. The department of education was party to this.

Fifty thousand plus hectares in extent, the valley stretches from north to south.

Numerous small watercourses lead into the centrally situated Kwena dam. The Kwena was erected by the department of Water affairs to supply water for downstream towns, agricultural and industrial use. Economic activities center around commercial agriculture and tourism and due to its unique natural beauty the valley contributes to the National Treasury.

 

 

Land Reform

In what I have described to you, it should now be apparent that the Badfontein community has accepted its responsibility to work out a future for its members long ago. Rather than murmur about what we didn’t have, we started working with what we did. The God given achievement of the past thirty years in social and economic advances is fragile and it was achieved with minimal resources and lots of intensive work and dedication by all involved. Acknowledging the sovereign will of the Lord, we accept and pray for present authority as we did in the past.

Restitution

It was in this spirit and confident in Government’s honest intentions with land reform that we prepared to participate in this process. We were aware of claims lodged with Land Affairs and also the criteria for evaluation. On this basis we felt certain that as far as restitution was concerned, there would be little reason for concern. When claim 11712 was gazetted in July 2004 we were surprised but not alarmed. It was only when we established the total absence of progress in our relevant file in the local land commission’s office, that alarm bells started ringing. In excess of five years had lapsed since the lodging of the claim and we now had reason for grave concern.

Consulting with the appointed official at the Land commission office drew a blank. Liaising with other affected parties confirmed the desperate nature of the situation. It seemed to us that the process was getting out of hand. We are now looking to government for credible, evenhanded and realistic leadership.

The process that at first seemed equitable and simple now appears to be heading for a legal wrangle at the best. Primary agriculture as a food provider, employer and substantial contributor to the Gross National Product, is a fragile industry. Once damaged it will be very difficult to repair. The damage already done in the opening phase, pertaining to restitution of land rights has become so involved, so expensive and so damaging that it has brought agriculture close to the point of economical no return. If the industry can barely survive the first phase economically what are the chances of success with those still to come?

To illustrate this, you just have to look at the effect of two seemingly insignificant results of the gazetting of a claim.

    1. The fact that the intended sale of land as well as developments have to be communicated to the land claims commissioner together with the enormity of the claims, have stopped most initiatives in this regard effectively. Collateral value of land has declined, business has slowed and dependent rural towns and communities are suffering as a consequence.
    2. Time in this process, is essentially the enemy. It is disastrous for a claim not to have been attended to for more than five years. Worse, is for an unattended claim to be gazette and left pending for years.

 

What do we propose?