Radicalism polarises

Commercial farmers cannot be branded as if their farms were unlawfully acquired and, moreover, that they are obstructing land reform. Julius Malema's inflammatory statements should by no means serve as justification for the state to deprive farmers of their land or to pay negligible, if any, compensation in the event of expropriation. This is an extremely conflicting approach that could hold catastrophic implications for investor confidence, food security and job creation," says Theo de Jager, vice president of Agri SA and chairman of the organisation's Transformation Committee.

"The economic politics advocated by Malema has already been experimented with elsewhere, with disastrous results, which speaks volumes to any objective and realistic observer. Zimbabwe is one example of the outcome that such a policy could produce. With similar experiments, South Africa will also not be unable to escape large-scale collapse," says De Jager.

De Jager says it is fatal to base revolutionary solutions on incorrect assumptions of a problem. The socialistic dream of the 1955 Freedom Charter, which determined that all land belongs to those who work on it, has been tested in virtually all former communist states. The resultant hunger and poverty brought those regimes to a fall.

The 2007 Polokwane resolution to the effect that the willing buyer, willing seller approach should be rejected also failed to take into account the real causes of the problem, namely corruption, nepotism and mismanagement. The lack of capacity to establish beneficiaries within an extremely competitive agricultural sector further contributed to the fact that the land restitution programme has produced virtually no success stories.  

"Agri SA hopes there are people within the ruling party who remain sufficiently committed to the points of departure contained in the Constitution and the settlement that was politically negotiated. "We find ourselves in a sensitive political phase where political, business and community leaders must take a stand regarding their commitment to the points of departure on which a successful South Africa can be built. Clarity regarding nationalisation is an important element of this," says De Jager.

Statement issued by Dr Theo de Jager, Deputy President, Agri SA, June 21 2011

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