Land Reform – let’s stay out of the boxing ring.
SA’s land reform debacle could destroy everything achieved since 1994, warns communications expert Prof David Venter. he was speaking at the recent Hortgro Science Symposium held near Franschoek.
“Successful economies across the world share a common theme: they look after their agricultural industries.
This is not true of South Africa where politicians and opportunists are taking advantage of a lack of policy clarity on land reform to create uncertainty and racial tension. this has caused farmers to become more apprehensive about investing in their enterprises and has scared off international investors.
we need to focus on creating a ‘fixed’ future
Countries with successful economies also place strong emphasis on education. Our human material is not inferior to what is found in these countries. We all start out the same, but in South Africa we are wasting our potential. We must pay more attention to education to improve our human capital material and move forwards.
change in inevitable
The desire to own land is not unique to South Africa; it is a worldwide phenomenon.
It creates a sense of being and belonging. Even though these desires and their accompanying emotions may seem irrational to those who do not share the same sentiments, South Africa has to address them. Land reform has to take place to ensure a sustainable political environment in our country.
About 10 years ago, before the financial crisis, there was a large window of opportunity to address this issue. However, the window has become too small owning to the economic slowdown. The need for it, in contrast, has become more urgent.
The fact that people are still trying to fix the past is a problem. We cannot change the past; we have to make peace with it and focus on creating a ‘fixed’ future where all are treated equally.
In South Africa, less than 9% of the population is white, yet they are still perceived as a threat. Many skilled white youngsters are looking to other countries to make a living, and in some cases, a life. It is ludicrous that these children, born and bred in South Africa, are not working here where there is a desperate skills shortage.
Lack of direction
The National Development Plan has the potential to work, but it has become a paper tower. Instead of government working on it, the plan has become entangled in bureaucracy. A lack of clear policy has also resulted in land reform being used by populist and ignorant politicians to create uncertainty and racial tension. Instead of finding creative solutions, political parties are wasting time and money bickering about every suggestion. It seems that nothing is resolved unless it ends in court.
A case in point is the ANC’s recent land cap proposal. Looking at what is happening in the farming sector, the proposal does not make sense. In 2009 there were about 40 000 farming units in South Africa. Since then, the number of farming units has declined by almost 60%. On top of that, only 13% of the country’s land is arable.
Instead of creating uncertainty, we need to create an environment in which the country can grow. Instead of being reactive, we need to het to a point of creating self-initiated responsible land reform. And for this we need different tenure models.
Government, for example, could identify all the land that is up for sale. It could also, since land reform is the greatest threat to our country’s stability, use money budgeted for the Ministry of Defence for land reform. Land reform is the enemy at the gate now, not some foreign country.
We need to identify the best suitable black farmers as beneficiaries of land reform. You cannot put anyone from the street on a farm. Beneficiaries must want to farm and must be committed – farming must be their passion.
Mentorships and shared resources models are necessary: farmers, both emerging and established commercial ones, must help each other to guarantee the viability of the industry.
We also need innovative financial models. Interest rates are low at the moment; let us take advantage of this to establish new farmers.
Negotiating with Government
It is better to work with government to find a viable solution than wait until you are forced to take part in negotiations. An average man doesn’t simply climb into a ring with Mike Tyson. Instead, he tries to negotiate a solution with him to prevent himself from landing up in that ring. He knows that he will not last 10 seconds in the ring with Tyson.
It’s time to change strategy
The same applies to government. Farmers should not play tug of war with government over land reform. It is possible for the industry to drag it out for as long as possible, but how will that help? Land reform will happen eventually, so instead of waiting for direct confrontation with government in which you can lose everything, rather work with government to make land reform work now. The way in which the agricultural sector and government negotiate should change.
Negotiations should not be based on bargaining; this is a worthless approach because it is based on what ‘I want’ and what ‘you want’, and the weaker party will always suffer. Going for a win-win solution is also not the answer, because it will result in cutting the cake into smaller slices. This will create not more opportunities , but fewer.
Supermarkets in Europe illustrate how poor negotiation can take its toll. Growth of major supermarkets is starting to slow down because of its skewed relationship with suppliers. The same is not yet true of South Africa, but will be in time. The reason is the cost squeeze farmers simply cannot afford to supply supermarkets at the current low prices. You cannot beat up suppliers for ever. The supermarkets’ survival will lie in partnerships with suppliers to be leverage the best of what each can bring to the table.
The ideal is to create a situation that allows everybody to grow. Instead of trying to cut the existing cake into ever smaller slices, we should sell it and use the money to bake more cake. And then we should sell those cakes until we can build bakeries. In this way we create more opportunities for new entrants and existing farmers.
For the agricultural sector, this means that farmers will have to share their secrets with new entrants and government, and government will have to create policies and opportunities to grow the sector.
When FW de Klerk was president of South Africa and negotiated with Nelson Mandela over the future of SA, they could have become stuck in bitterness over the wrongs of the past. Instead they found common ground and negotiated a future. Today, that heritage is under threat, because of land reform. We need to move past colour, and start creating value and learn to co-operate with each other. We need to do this not to be the best in the world, but to be the best in the world.”
Prof David Venter is a partner at the Competence Centre people and Organisation of Vlerick Business School. Email him at [email protected]