Land Reform..... Nongqawuse makes her return

Once we accept that history repeats itself.... (see the post below) we have to look how this is happening today in South Africa. First a question to ponder "Does the race of the person who grew your food matter?"

The South African Government - the ANC - has committed itself to redistributing 30% of the land to black claimants. That these claimants have no training or real support to farm these farms does not seem to bother those in power. Rather ANC MPs were incensed to hear that since 1994 only five percent of white-owned land had been redistributed and that probably only seven percent would be redistributed by 2014. So what has been the fate of the farms which have been handed over? Disastrous might be a good word...

Over the past 12 years, more than 4-million hectares of land have been delivered to millions of beneficiaries in respect of 79000 land claims.

A University of Pretoria analysis of "progress" on farms transferred to black farmers found, among other things, that on 44% of them production had decreased drastically, and on 24% there had been no production since transfer to the new owners.

So a quarter of the land handed over is just standing idle.... reminding me of those fields a 150 years ago... standing idle. The spirit of Nongqawuse must be smiling....

I know this all sounds rather alarmist, BUT have a look at current and recent history of land grabbing in Zimbabwe. Just today the foremost and almost last white farmer still in Zimbabwe Doug Taylor-Freeme has had his farm invaded by Chief Nemakonde. The only reason is RACE. Doug is too white. The Chief, who has many wives and scores of children to feed, already owns five farms he has confiscated from the whites, and these farms are now all derelict following the Chief's farming "efforts". Now he's after Doug's land. So the Chief sent a bunch of women and children to burn the winter wheat stalks. The cattle now have nothing to eat. Nongqawuse has returned.

Zimbabwe is now going to starve. " In October the donors fed 2 million people at the level of 15 kilograms of cereals a month per capita. In November they expect to go to 3,5 million people at a reduced rate of 10 kilos of cereals per capita. They plan to go to 5,5 million in January 2009 but at present they do not have the money or the supplies for that programme.

In the words of Morgan Tsvangirai (Prime Minister elect of Zimbabwe)
"We have no agricultural season to talk about this year, the country is facing a serious shortage of inputs and that means we will not have anything to harvest even if the rains come. This year it will be fair if we say there is no agricultural season at all."

"We will definitely be a country of beggars for the next two years. We have no option but to beg for food aid from other countries beginning from this year, through next year until the harvest time of the year after next."

So that would be half the population of the country without food. What happened to the BLACK FARMER? Is handing land over on the basis of race not too simplistic? Maybe someone should ask the starving ones?