Access to a livelihood, family heritage and human dignity.
This is why scores of Eastern Cape families pleaded at the weekend for the government to change the constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.
Hundreds of people from nearby towns packed the Jansenville town hall on Saturday for the Eastern Cape leg of the constitutional review committee hearings on amending Section 25 of the constitution.
While many, mostly black people, said the constitution had to be amended, others said doing so would send South Africa on the skid into an economic crisis.
Many farmers said they supported land reform but that the government had been too slow and inefficient in the distribution of land.
Somerset East resident Neliswa Yantolo said she had been born on a farm in Klipfontein but shortly after her birth, her parents were chased off the farm.“Recently, we wanted to hold a traditional ceremony to appease our ancestors, but before we could do it we had to request from the white farm owner access to go to the graves of our forefathers, which we had to wait some time for the landlord to approve.
“This was an insult to human dignity,” she said.
“The constitution is meant to redress imbalances of the past.
“This is not revenge against the white man, but it’s a matter of correcting the wrong done in South Africa.”
Blaauwkrantz resident Zwelothando Mooi, who was born and raised on a farm between Uitenhage and Kirkwood, said he faced eviction from the only home he had known, where his parents and grandparents were buried.
Mooi said they’d had hope when the government bought 1,400ha of land for 21 beneficiaries, including himself, but they had never received title deeds.
“The owner of that land is trying to remove us from that land,” he said.
“He is proposing giving us only 300ha. This matter is with lawyers now. We were born on that land.
“I started working on that farm in 1978, I was a foreman – there’s nothing I don’t know about that land.
“We want Section 25 of the constitution amended. It’s painful living there. We are being evicted.”
Alexandria resident Lulu Jikolo said she supported amending the constitution.
Jikolo said her forefathers were forcefully removed from their land and their cattle sold in Alexandria.
“Our forefathers had title deeds to their farms but they were still removed,” Jikolo said.
“Our people’s graves are on these people’s farms and having these talks makes us happy because it looks as if something is being done about black people’s struggles.
“Our forefathers ploughed fields and herded their own cattle successfully, but today when we talk about returning the land we’re told we don’t have the skills to run farms.”
AfriForum’s Eugene Brink said amending the constitution would be a mistake as the state had failed to redistribute land in the last 24 years.
“The state owns roughly a quarter of agricultural land in the country and should start selling and handing over that land first before they start talking about the rest,” he said.
“Former rural development & land reform minister Gugile Nkwinti admitted that 90% of land reform farms failed due to poor government support.”
Graaff-Reinet resident Egmont Bouwer supported amending the constitution, saying that every generation of his family since they landed in Cape Town in 1733 had been involved in the theft of land or the defence of stolen land.
He said they were among those who committed genocide against the Khoi and San.
“White farmers did not become successful until they were actively assisted by the state.
“With a strengthened land bank which can provide soft loans and a department of agriculture which can provide assistance to help black farmers access markets, information and new technology, there is no reason why black farmers will not be successful.”
Tsitsikamma dairy farmer Judy Woodgate said if South Africa did not want to end up like Zimbabwe, the government should forget about amending the constitution.
“It’s illogical to hold people accountable for things that happened before they were born and they know nothing about,” she said.
Thozama Nogada, from Joe Slovo in Nelson Mandela Bay, said that before amending the constitution, the government should implement policy and audit how much land it had.Port Elizabeth farmer Mzimkhulu Fatman said he was conflicted about amending the constitution because it potentially meant his farm might be taken, but he also wanted to support the proposed amendment for black people.
The contentious issue of land expropriation, the proper management of dwindling water resources to ensure food security, and the impact climate change will have on coastal communities will be among the hot topics when Eastern Cape farmers gather for their 17th annual congress this week.
Agricultural body Agri Eastern Cape will play host to the conference in Jeffreys Bay on Thursday and Friday.
The event features a lineup of speakers including academics and industry experts who are set to address the major issues affecting farming in the province.
Keynote speaker Angelo Fick will launch proceedings with an in-depth look at the complexity of land issues.
Fick, the director of research at the Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute, is also known for his role as a senior researcher and news analyst.
In response to the land question, Fick will discuss how changes in ownership structures demand creative thinking to solve this multifaceted problem.
“There are two conflicting aspects to land expropriation,” he said.
“We are trapped by politicians who are working towards their own agendas which, I believe, are influenced strongly by the upcoming elections, and also by land owners who are afraid of change.
“But all the talk about who owns the land misses the point. You also have tenant farm workers whose ancestors were buried on the farm, and who will be buried there themselves.
“They, and their children, attended school on the land.
“There is a sense of history and they need to be afforded some kind of rights.
“However, while there is still a long way to go, there are already structures in place, models which are already working, under which land owners co-operate with tenants, and vice-versa, to achieve harmony.”
With the prolonged drought wreaking havoc in parts of the Eastern Cape, the importance of water in ensuring food security is another critical issue.
This will be addressed by Felix Reinders, president of the International Commission on Irrigation and Draining Irrigation Farming.
Reinders says that with effective water management and good subsurface drainage, improved soil health conditions could be created for successful irrigation farming which, in turn, would assure the country of continued food supply.The Eastern Cape regional manager for the South African Weather Service, Hugh van Niekerk, will tackle the challenges that climate change will throw at the province, not only in the immediate term but also over the next 100 years.
He is expected to highlight the effect that global warming is having on rising sea levels and the impact this will have on coastal communities, as well as on people living inland.
Agri SA president Dan Kriek will also address delegates and provide an overview of the parent body’s activities and interactions with the government and key stakeholders at national level.