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South Africa to fast-track land (re)distribution
Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said efforts to speed up land redistribution were part of President Thabo Mbeki's "apex priorities", announced in his State of the Nation speech. More attention would be paid to supporting the beneficiaries of restituted and redistributed land, to ensure it was productive.
The government intends acquiring 5-million hectares of land next year in an effort to have 30 percent of agricultural land in the hands of black farmers by 2014, according to Agriculture Minister Lulu Xingwana. She told a press briefing in Cape Town on Thursday that currently black farmers owned 4.7 percent of farmland. "We are saying that if we acquire five million next year we will be on target."

This would go to about 10 000 black farmers.

Xingwana said she thought this target was realistic and that strategies previously used were being reviewed. "We also need financial resources. The willing buyer, willing seller principle is not working. The public works minister is tabling the expropriation act, so we hope that with all these we can fast-track the process."

Xingwana said regulation of foreign land-ownership was a certainty. "At this point in time we definitely agree that we have to regulate foreign land-ownership. We will look at the options and international best practices." She hoped that half of the outstanding land claims would be settled by the end of this year. These were mostly rural claims held up by disagreements between tribal chiefs over where boundaries lay, and white farmers disputing the validity of claims.

Expropriation would be used to settle claims not finalised by the end of 2008, Xingwana said.

Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said efforts to speed up land redistribution were part of President Thabo Mbeki's "apex priorities", announced in his State of the Nation speech. More attention would be paid to supporting the beneficiaries of restituted and redistributed land, to ensure it was productive.
Posted by: Seafarious 2008-02-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=227330