South Africa Offers State Land for Lease to Dispossessed

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa will offer as much as 700,000 hectares (1.73 million acres) of state land for lease as the government steps up its drive to compensate citizens forcibly removed and dispossessed during the apartheid era.

The agricultural land, designated vacant or underutilized, is the most to be released since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the government's intention to speed up land reform in his state of the nation address in February. Since then it has handed 135,117 hectares to 275 farmers.

Applications for the land, comprising 896 farms in seven of the country's provinces, will open in two weeks. Successful applicants will be granted for 30-year leases with the option to buy, Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza told reporters Thursday.

Lease agreements aren't transferable and lessors won't be able to sub-lease portions of land, Didiza said. Beneficiaries will undergo a compulsory training program including basic training on farming, record-keeping and financial management.

“This is a good move, but unfortunately as long as we still have a non-tradable lease, the financing of and keeping these farms productive will remain a challenge,” Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, said in an emailed comment.

Expropriation, Claims

The ruling African National Congress adopted expropriation of land without compensation as a policy in 2017 to address racially skewed ownership patterns dating back to colonialism and white-minority rule that ended in 1994.

It is also addressing land claims by people seeking rights to property they were forcibly removed from. About 360,173 hectares, equating to 413 properties, is under claim, Didiza said.

The department is continuing to investigate state land that is already occupied without formal approval, she said.

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