Cape Town - The Western Cape department of land affairs spent R81.2 million on land reform initiatives between January last year and May this year, Terrence Fife, the chief director, said this week.
These initiatives would benefit 3 102 people, more than half of them farm workers, on 133 780ha of land. Of the beneficiaries, 1 205 were women and 30 were people with disabilities.
However, Fife said, land reform in the province had been hampered by budgetary constraints and the large number of applications received.
The 36 projects in the province were undertaken under programmes such as the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, Land Reform and Agricultural Development, the Extension of Security of Tenure Act and the Farm Worker Equity Scheme.
Beneficiaries were mainly from Clanwilliam, Bredasdorp, Cape Town, Worcester, George, Stellenbosch and Beaufort West. They are to start farming enterprises such as the production of wine grapes, dairy products, fruit, tree seedlings, lucerne and livestock.
Money was also earmarked for housing, forestry and the securing and upgrading of land tenure rights.
Transfer of the land was still pending in 18 of the 36 approved projects.
The largest disbursement already made was R13.5 million to the 281 members of the Rennie Farm Workers Trust to buy 75ha of land near Worcester and establish a fruit and herb business.
Other payouts in excess of R5 million that have been made were:
n R10.5 million to Mountain to Ocean Forestry at Stellenbosch for 654 people to start a forestry business on 118 500ha of land;
n R8.8 million to the 294 beneficiaries of the Eikevlei Community Trust to buy 195ha of land at Clanwilliam and produce fruit and vegetables; and
n R8.5 million for 344 beneficiaries at Moravia for grape production on 81ha of land under the Farm Worker Equity Scheme.
Carl Opperman, the chief executive of Agri Wes-Cape, said the co-operative supported land reform on condition that it was orderly; the courts had an oversight role; it took place on a willing seller, willing buyer basis; expropriation was used only as a last resort; and it was economically and environmentally sustainable.
He said some pending large land restitution claims would have enormous impacts on the economy of the affected areas.
Agri Wes-Cape believed that the slow pace of land reform was largely due to clumsy bureaucratic processes, an insufficient budget and a lack of capacity in the department, he added. - Business Report
These initiatives would benefit 3 102 people, more than half of them farm workers, on 133 780ha of land. Of the beneficiaries, 1 205 were women and 30 were people with disabilities.
However, Fife said, land reform in the province had been hampered by budgetary constraints and the large number of applications received.
The 36 projects in the province were undertaken under programmes such as the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, Land Reform and Agricultural Development, the Extension of Security of Tenure Act and the Farm Worker Equity Scheme.
Beneficiaries were mainly from Clanwilliam, Bredasdorp, Cape Town, Worcester, George, Stellenbosch and Beaufort West. They are to start farming enterprises such as the production of wine grapes, dairy products, fruit, tree seedlings, lucerne and livestock.
Money was also earmarked for housing, forestry and the securing and upgrading of land tenure rights.
Transfer of the land was still pending in 18 of the 36 approved projects.
The largest disbursement already made was R13.5 million to the 281 members of the Rennie Farm Workers Trust to buy 75ha of land near Worcester and establish a fruit and herb business.
Other payouts in excess of R5 million that have been made were:
n R10.5 million to Mountain to Ocean Forestry at Stellenbosch for 654 people to start a forestry business on 118 500ha of land;
n R8.8 million to the 294 beneficiaries of the Eikevlei Community Trust to buy 195ha of land at Clanwilliam and produce fruit and vegetables; and
n R8.5 million for 344 beneficiaries at Moravia for grape production on 81ha of land under the Farm Worker Equity Scheme.
Carl Opperman, the chief executive of Agri Wes-Cape, said the co-operative supported land reform on condition that it was orderly; the courts had an oversight role; it took place on a willing seller, willing buyer basis; expropriation was used only as a last resort; and it was economically and environmentally sustainable.
He said some pending large land restitution claims would have enormous impacts on the economy of the affected areas.
Agri Wes-Cape believed that the slow pace of land reform was largely due to clumsy bureaucratic processes, an insufficient budget and a lack of capacity in the department, he added. - Business Report
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