- These words are not bandied about loosely in Levubu.
An officially-sanctioned invasion of private property occurred recently
in the area. Ostensibly looking for ancestral graves, a group of 50 blacks
arrived at a farm, with state officials in tow. Proof of graves somehow
gives credence to the fact that certain land is "ancestral",
although Fritz Ahrens, head of the Louis Trichardt Farmers' Union (affiliated
to TAU SA) says many land claims in the area are not valid.
-
- His logic in handling this "ancestral claim"
conundrum is excellent. Why not grant blacks title deeds to their own plots
in their own areas? he asks. "There are farms lying in Venda with
irrigation piping where you just need to open the tap and start planting",
he declares. (Farmer's Weekly 11.2.05). "Venda has some of the best
land in the area. Why don't they turn it into a commercial success and
then acquire more land from the state on the open market"?
-
- Why indeed! This is the question on everyone's lips,
but the answer is depressing. African agriculture, if it can be called
that, is subsistence, and has been since time immemorial. White commercial
farming changed the face of South Africa, and the country is the only food-exporting
nation on the African continent. Instead of leaving those who farm successfully
alone, a malicious low-intensity war is gradually sapping the nerve of
many South African farmers. The pressures of high input costs, more and
more taxes, land claims, intimidation, murder and robberies and wildly
volatile market prices are simply not worth the effort, and some farmers
want to give up the ghost..
-
- State-sponsored land invasions were the last resort of
the Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe. His country is in tatters, and the
same tactic is now taking place in South Africa. Private property as a
right is now sullied. Nervousness and a sense of insecurity has set in
among farmers.
-
- Those who believe the SA government will think land redistribution
through logically are making a mistake. Throughout Africa, logic in the
Western sense does not exist. Even today, with many starving, Zimbabweans
line the routes of Robert Mugabe's motorcade to cheer on this "strong
leader" who, truth be told, is admired, even in South Africa, for
forcing white farmers out of his country.
-
- When the Zimbabwean premier addresses audiences in South
Africa, he is roundly acclaimed with standing ovations. His current pre-election
ticket is based on denigrating the British premier and "colonialism".
He is tapping into a deep lode of anti-white resentment which permeates
much of the African continent.
-
- Who will feed the South African population if the country's
commercial farming sector is debilitated or eventually destroyed, ask Western
observers. A sensible question, but not one obviously being asked by the
SA government as it charges ahead with its agricultural land redistribution
programme, which has failed abysmally so far.
-
- Levubu farmer Bill Oldreive is armed with a court order
to prevent further incursions on to his farm, after his gate was bulldozed
to make way for a path through his property which, according to Oldrieve,
would turn into a highway. How long before the courts will become "transformed"
to suit a political agenda. To whom then can farmers turn?
-
- One agricultural editor talks of "reason" over
political expediency. But "reason" is culturally bound. This
is evident right throughout Africa. The UN's General Romeo Dalliare watched
the Rwanda genocide unfold, and the world did nothing, he says in his latest
book. He now questions the world's apparent indifference to Sudan's Darfur
genocide crisis.
-
- Nobody will help the South African government if it continues
down the path of destroying this country's commercial agricultural sector.
The world is sick and tired of Africa. It is now being left to its own
devices.
-
- British author Roger Sandall talks of one of Sudan's
opposition members pleading on a BBC program some months ago for "the
international community" to become involved in saving Africa.
-
- Africa is always on the defensive, says Sandall. They
invariably use the "legacy of colonialism" to intimidate Africa's
critics into a state of guilty fear - and then "the international
community" is asked to come and sort Africa out.
-
- In South Africa it is the "legacy of apartheid"
which is blamed for the slow disintegration of what used to be a functioning
country. Will South Africa's farmers allow their 350 years of hard work
to be destroyed by the suicidal policies of politicians who do not - will
not - think of tomorrow?
-
- It would seem that only the farmers can salvage this
situation by virtue of the power inherent in their ability to provide the
food which feeds South Africa's burgeoning population. Only by standing
together and confronting this catastrophe head on will agriculture be saved
in South Africa.
-
- Source:
- SOUTH AFRICA BULLETIN
- from the headquarters of the
- TAU SA
- www.rights2property.com
- Tel. + 27 12 804 8031 Fax + 27 12 804 2014
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