Farmers oppose new Land Act over state control fears

Farmers are not happy about the promulgation of the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Act recently signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa said the law will ensure that agricultural land supports long-term food production and that agriculture contributes to economic growth.

He said the law was in line with the government’s priorities for the sustainable management and use of natural resources.

Ramaphosa signs Act

“The law creates an enabling environment for the development of the agricultural sector and an increased contribution by this sector to economic growth.

“The law seeks to protect and preserve agricultural land and its productive use to ensure that agricultural land is available and viable for the development of the sector,” said Ramaphosa.

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He said the legislation sets out the purpose of provincial agricultural sector plans to secure the coordination of agricultural land use policies and preserve a sustainable agricultural environment.

The Transvaal Agricultural Union of SA (TLU SA) opposed the signing of the law.

“We believe this law is a veil for greater state control and a direct threat to the future of agriculture in South Africa,” said TLU SA chair Bennie van Zyl.

‘Veil for greated state control’ – TLU

“It runs almost parallel to the Expropriation Act and signals a planned attack on farmers’ independence and decision-making ability.

“This is not an attempt to protect land – it is an attempt to control it. A more fitting name for the law would be the Regulation and Control of Agricultural Land Act.”

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Van Zyl said the law creates a regulatory mechanism in which the minister of agriculture has the authority to determine how agricultural land may be used.

He said the law places farmers under strict control and imposes heavy penalties, including fines of up to R10 million or even 10 years in prison for those who violate the regulations.

Theo de Jager, Southern African Agri Initiative board chair, said: “If the president’s statement on the agricultural Act was an embodiment of the content and intention of it, farmers would have been very excited about it. But it is not.

Law places farmers under strict controls

“The effort to protect scarce high potential agricultural land from being turned into residential, industrial or other uses is widely welcomed in the sector, as the damage of uncontrolled, unplanned and destructive rezoning in many areas is already irreversible,” said De Jager.

De Jager said the Act gives the state wide powers to dictate, control and prescribe to farmers, criminalising producers with generations of experience for not following orders from politically appointed officials who have never set foot on farms.

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The Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz), an organisation tasked to ensure the agriculture sector continues to contribute to the economy, supported the president’s move. Agbiz head of legal intelligence Annelize Crosby said: “Agbiz welcomes this Bill being signed into law.

“There is a dire need for the protection of productive agricultural land, especially land suitable for cropping.

“Only 12% of SA’s land mass is suitable for cropping and only 3% is high potential. The yields provided by these areas are disproportionate to their size.

“SA is losing agricultural land to other land uses, such as residential and mining, at an alarming rate. As more land is lost, it will become more difficult to feed the growing population.”

Crosby said that from 1994- 2017 more than 3.6 million hectares (4%) of agricultural land had been lost to other uses.

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