White Farmers’ Dealings With Land Reform in South Africa: Evidence From Northern Limpopo Province

Abstract

Abstract:Completing restitution, a key element of South Africa's land reform programme, entails government acquisition of white-owned farms. Some white farmers are willing to sell and consequently the government has paid them full market-related compensation. Others, however, refuse to sell, a right they have under the terms of the willing-seller, willing-buyer principle to which the government has committed itself. Why white farmers refuse to sell, even when compensation is on offer, is poorly understood. This paper therefore draws on qualitative research concerning white farmers in the Levubu area of northern Limpopo province to fill this gap in knowledge. The paper asks why white farmers were refusing to sell land to make way for restitution. It interrogates the material and symbolic factors affecting farmers' action and demonstrates that the respondents' justified their stance in relation to shifts in power in the agricultural sector, developments in land reform practice, and the respondents' strong emotional bond to the land. In so doing, the paper calls into question the underlying (materialist) logic of the government's mode of land acquisition.

Power and politics in stakeholder engagement: farm dweller (in)visibility and conversions to game farming in South Africa

“…The political rhetoric of transformation and land reform adopted since the first ANC-led democratic government came into power in 1994 has generated anxiety among white farmers in both provinces (Fraser 2008). Statements in the press by Ministers and Members of Parliament about the need to speed up land reform (Stoddard 2016) require white farmers to legitimize and assert their position on the land.…”

Factors determining use of biological disease control measures by the avocado industry in South Africa

“…In this process, farmers' often refuse to sell their land to make way for restitution (Fraser 2008). New emerging farmers, on the other hand, battle the cost and lack the infrastructure required to establish new farming practices (Groenewalt, 2003).…”

Community Members’ Knowledge, Support and Perceived Benefits of Land Reform in Rural South Africa: The Case of Mtunzini, in the KwaZulu Natal Province

“…In some cases, the white farmers are motivated by material interests where the Willing Seller Willing Buyer, is attractive enough to increase number of sellers (Massey, 1997). According Fraser (2007) many of the white farmer's decision not to sell stemmed from their material and symbolic interests in the land. Fraser (2007) also argues that the monetary payments as compensation did not attract sufficient numbers to sell.…”

“…According Fraser (2007) many of the white farmer's decision not to sell stemmed from their material and symbolic interests in the land. Fraser (2007) also argues that the monetary payments as compensation did not attract sufficient numbers to sell. Bernstein (2002) argued that the development of the rural South Africa have influenced some of the white landlords to sell the land.…”

“…Hall (2007) points that the focus on elite Black farmers limits the impact of land reform for the greater majority of landless people. Fraser (2007) is of the view that the element of land reform in the context of South Africa is the government taking white-owned farms. Some farmers sell under compensation, while others refuse to sell.…”