Corruption, incapacity, lack of funding, and a lack of true care for agriculture collapsed many land reform projects in South Africa.
Earlier this year, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape exposed the collapse of the Emthanjeni Hydroponics Collective. The site, intended for production of cherry, plum and cocktail tomatoes on municipal commonage land, is stripped of equipment, implements, and tools. Another opportunity to drive successful land reform and economic growth lies barren.
While the corrupt cadres care more about looting than true land reform, two out of every five people in the province still cannot find jobs. Land is one of the biggest assets that the Northern Cape boast, and we should be using this productively to drive greater economic opportunities, especially for the youth with a real passion for farming and agriculture.
This is why the DA in provincial government promotes land redistribution and land management models that are proven to be successful, with the potential to establish successful commercial agriculture, improve livelihoods, and enhance food security. We encourage the use of underutilised government land to establish food gardens run by emerging farmers to provide nutritious vegetables for school feeding schemes or communal soup kitchens, thereby expanding the social safety net for the poorest of the poor. We cannot grow a prosperous province if our children must go to bed hungry.
Unlike the current Northern Cape structures, which identified the Emthanjeni Hydroponics Collective as one of the top five hydroponics enterprises and then sat by as it collapsed, we will provide proper pre- and post-settlement support to ensure that productive land is used productively.
Ultimately, it is only the DA that has proven ourselves capable of managing land reform to the greater benefit of communities, beneficiaries, and agribusinesses. For us to bring this success to the Northern Cape, and to use agriculture land productively, voters must put their faith in the DA on 29 May 2024.