Billions worth of land given to people in Mpumalanga

Land valued at billions of rands has been given to rural communities in Mpumalanga in the last five years, with over 20 000 beneficiaries, the provincial agriculture and land department said on Monday.

"This is 278 137ha of land valued at R2 850 608,933 transferred to 27 865 beneficiaries," it said in a joint statement with the Regional Land Claims Commission-Mpumalanga (RLCC-MP), and the Mpumalanga Provincial Land Reform Office (MPLRO).

This follows recent "negative" media reports with particular reference made to the Mpumalanga province.

"[We] have come together under one umbrella to bring citizens of Mpumalanga up to speed about the status quo on government's land reform programmes," the statement read.

Meanwhile, the MPLRO said it had transferred 345 000ha of land though various programmes since 1996.

"The key mandate of the MPLRO remains the redistribution of 30% of white owned agricultural land to previously disadvantaged individuals by 2014 as well as the provision of tenure security."

With regards to issues of land rights, the department said Mpumalanga was one of two provinces that had to deal not only with farm-occupier issues, but also 8 885 labour-tenant claims.

The province had identified the importance of building strategic partnerships with the private sector in order to increase the sustainability of land reform projects.

"To date support has been obtained from many of the commodity sectors and to this end a number of agreements with different agricultural partners have been facilitated."

The department said one of the significant post-settlement challenges confronting the province was to ensure that communities maintain productivity of highly productive agricultural land transferred to them.

"To acquire the necessary skills and experience while maintaining production on the farm the beneficiary communities forge strategic partnership with an experienced land owner or company," it said.

"Through human support to all farms bought by government for restitution and land reform, the department has provided training. Some of the training has been done with Department of Labour."

The department also ensured that beneficiaries had access to services such as boreholes for water and veterinary services.

"These interventions have assisted local farmers to get into the export industry," it said, adding that it also established a land rights management facility to provide legal assistance to people facing eviction.