It is surprising that there are people who would equate the resolving of land rights to budgetary constraints. It is unfortunate that at this stage in our democracy there are academics from institutions like the Land Rights Research Programme at the Centre of Applied Legal Studies at Wits University, which one thought were progressive, and therefore understood the issue of violation of rights, particularly those of the poor, who can argue that betterment does not constitute violation of rights. They instruct valuers to quantify the potential negative costs of invasions. This is the first time the government has implicitly acknowledged the threat of land invasions in South Africa - and their potentially devastating impact on property prices, particularly in commercial farming areas. To seek a lasting solution to the emotive issue of land, Prime Minister Hage Geingob, on a visit to Europe, is to discuss land reform with European Union leaders, in a bid to get support and possibly financial aid for the exercise.
Slangrivier residents rejoice.
Addressing a media briefing at a conference on land and agricultural development in Kempton Park, Didiza said her new integrated programme of land redistribution and agricultural development did not mean that earlier programmes that catered for the poor were scrapped. Nafu's proposal that the government review foreign ownership of land in South Africa is worth consideration. The government's land reform process is very slow and needs speeding up. However, the country's economy cannot afford to have large tracts of arable of grazing land unutilised. Mere land ownership, for its own sake, is increasingly unacceptable.